


Bird in a Cage

by Stars_Aligned



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: A lot of carrying bridal style (I'm weird okay?), A lot of them - Freeform, Crossdressing, Eating problem(it gets fixed), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone is there even if they're all young, Hair-styling, Kidnapping, Leo and Takumi are 12 or 13 at that start, Leo needs happiness, On Hiatus, Servant Silas & Azura, Takumi is full of self doubt, Takumi needs happiness, They make each other happy, headcannons, some blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-06-05 08:10:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 56,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6696847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stars_Aligned/pseuds/Stars_Aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Corrin wasn’t the one that got kidnapped and taken to Nohr? What if Garon didn’t treat his hostage like a child or the Nohrian royal family wasn’t as kind and welcoming at the start? King Garon kidnaps Takumi and keeps him as a hostage in Castle Krakenberg. </p><p>At first, Leo didn't really care all that much for a boy from the enemy kingdom. But sometimes, change can come and sweep you off your feet. Good change or even bad change. However, Leo needed to feel the change that Takumi gave him. The feeling of happiness was something the second prince of Nohr needed to learn how to keep.</p><p>(I'm so bad at summaries! I'll try to make a better one in the future!)</p><p>ON HIATUS</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Caught

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I had this idea a LONG time ago and I've finally put it into action. This may or may not end up well, but I'm crossing my fingers. Enjoy the story... But then again it's terrible because my writing SUCKS! 
> 
> I'm descending into Leokumi hell with you all!

Takumi really didn’t know how or why he got into this mess. All he knew was that he had to get out of it. Unfortunately, much to his dismay, it didn’t seem like he was going to.

Just a few hours earlier he had been walking into the Hoshidan marketplace with his older brother Ryoma and younger sister Sakura.

He found it kind of pointless heading outside to a bustling marketplace when they were all clearly recognized as royal blood. Any possible threat would be able to spot them in an instant. Ryoma had-or at least tried to assure him that it was all going to be fine. He also made it sound like it was some important thing their mother and father had sent them out to do, which was observe the way the townspeople acted, what problems they were experiencing and how their daily lifestyles were.

That did not stop Takumi from being paranoid, and he had probably frustrated Ryoma a bit. After all, it wasn’t like the crown prince to go on insulting his own people, so having their younger brother do so was quite irking. Although, even if the brunette was the slightest bit ticked off, it didn’t show on his face. Instead he remained calm, bringing his hand to rest on his chin before he walked off to find something.

“Here,” he said, placing a sheathed knife into Takumi’s hands. “If you are so worried, here is a weapon you should only use to protect yourself when you are being provoked or attacked.”

It wasn’t the most powerful knife or dagger that Takumi had seen, but it was doable, hopefully able to protect them from any possible foes. Before Takumi could even utter a word of thanks, Ryoma interrupted him, stopping at the end of the hallway, having made his way out.

“Just remember that I doubt you’ll be needing it,” Ryoma exclaimed with a concerned frown. “It’s our people we are talking about here. I trust them, so should you.”

With that, he left, probably to get ready to leave the castle. Takumi couldn’t help but scoff to that proclamation. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust their people. Of course, naturally the Hoshidans were very peaceful. Their kingdom as a whole was generally peaceful and calm natured. He just wanted to be careful. Clearly, he was the only one who actually thought that there could be enemies anywhere. Even if the sun shone on everything in Hoshido, didn’t mean there was nothing lurking in the shadows cast upon from the light.

Besides if Ryoma was so confident in everyone standing on Hoshidan soil, then why did they have an army in the first place?

Hinoka was continuing her Pegasus riding lesson, apparently taking an interest. There were so many in Hoshido, he was surprised that this was her first time considering the idea of learning how to fly one. Corrin went to accompany her (her name seemed foreign, but not Nohrian). While Sakura and Ryoma got ready, all Takumi did was comb through his long silver hair and hide the sheathed knife under one of the folds in his outfit.

He sighed staring at his reflection. Takumi sort of gave up on ever becoming as tall as Ryoma would grow to be. Ryoma was told constantly that he looked like his father, Sumeragi. Meanwhile, two of his sisters were always told how much they looked like the former queen. Obviously, Corrin was a stunning image of her mother-well his mother too now-Queen Mikoto. The thing was everyone would hush down their excited hype once they saw him. For he had the silver hair that stood out. The silver hair that came out of nowhere and didn’t even seem close to his birth parents’ hair colours.

Sometimes he wondered how he even got the hair colour. He was also pretty short. He was sure Ryoma would drone on about how he was still growing, since he was a child and how eventually he would become a tall young man. However, this didn’t make Takumi feel any better. Ryoma was already pretty tall for his age and had so many Hoshidan maidens swooning over him already. He also had a lot more muscle. In comparison, there was practically no competition. Takumi was the short, weird hair colored brother standing in his tall, handsome, muscular, smart older brother’s shadow.

With a deep breath he darted out of his room in search for his siblings.

This was actually the first time that Ryoma had ever invited him to come along. Usually either Corrin or Hinoka accompanied him when he visited the town. Since they were busy riding winged horses, Takumi was practically forced to come. Considering how paranoid he appeared, Takumi kind of understood why he hadn’t been taken before.

“Sakura! Ryoma!” He quietly shouted, not wanting to startle any maids or servants carrying anything. You only make that mistake once. Nearly giving Azura a heart attack while she was carrying tea was something that would never happen again. Ever.

Takumi turned the corner, finding his two siblings ready to go, wearing neat and basic clothing, yet it still made them both appear as royalty. Not with him, he would have to deck himself with so many layers of silk for anyone to really recognize him as the Royal he was born as. Of course, the two looked like royalty. Even with the simplest of clothing, their smiles and the presence they gave off was what gave them away.

_Were they ready that quickly? Dang it! How long had he taken dwelling and sulking?_

“L-let’s go now guys,” Sakura smiled, eager to see the thousands of colours and breathe in the fragrant scents wafting through the air in the marketplace.

She always enjoyed going to the Hoshidan square whenever there were festivals or ceremonies, or even when it was just a regular day. Although Sakura was quite shy, she cared very much about her people and tried her hardest to step out of her comfort zone. That was the selfless thing about her that the Hoshidans gratefully appreciated.

“Alright,” Ryoma smiled back at her, leading them towards the town square.

}}}-------------------------}

The marketplace was now pretty much deserted, aside from a few Hoshidans rushing over from work to their awaiting houses. Sakura wanted to stay and help an elderly woman set up her flower stand and Ryoma went talking with a few citizens and helping people with carrying heavy loads, already impressing people with his strength. Meanwhile, he set the task of watching over Sakura on him while he checked around the town to ensure everything was fine.

“Big brother!” Sakura came running towards him, a wide smile plastered on her face, which was different from her small shy smile.

“We should probably go home soon,” Takumi explained, casually brushing his hand to where he kept the knife hidden (just to reassure himself), “It’s getting dark.”

Sakura nodded her head in agreement. “B- but where’s Ryoma?”

Honestly, Takumi had no clue where their big brother had run off to or if he was even back at the castle yet. However, Takumi did know that Ryoma could handle himself just fine.

“He’s probably back at the castle,” Takumi lied, leading his younger sister back in the direction of their home.

Sometimes, Takumi loved Sakura. She was kind and caring, loved by all the castle staff and treasured by all her people. Sakura had this delicacy that no one could replace or in fact hate. She had this way of charming people without really meaning to charm anyone. He had found her working on gardening, trying her best to grow a certain red flower because Hinoka said it was her favourite. He also ran into her a few times, carrying things like handmade necklaces or hand painted tea cups. Heck, one time she gave him two hairpieces that made him want to continue to grow his hair long when he was considering cutting it.

Everyone found her beautiful, pretty, and a kind soul just like her birth and even her current mother was/is. Sakura actually acknowledged him and noticed him even when he was standing beside the greats.

But other times, Takumi would just wish Sakura learned some things other than crafts, gardening and Healing. He wished that she learned self defense when she was younger. Or instead of picking up the whisk, picked up a fine weapon. He thought her music was beautiful on the koto, and of course she was a very elegant and fine princess, but some part of him wanted her to have a bit of Hinoka in her or maybe even Corrin.

And now of all times, he really wished she knew how to fight.

“T-TAKUMI!!! BIG BROTHER!!!” Sakura managed to cry out as someone cloaked and unrecognizable grabbed her, pulling her away from him.

What was this creep trying to do? Kidnap her? He knew that it was a bad idea coming here without actual protection. He really wanted to yell at Ryoma, but of course he wasn’t there. He wasn’t there to help, to yell at or even to give Takumi one of those annoyingly effective pep talks or speeches.

Takumi pulled the knife quickly out of its sheath and lunged forward, stabbing the guy’s (or girl’s) abdomen, causing them to let go of Sakura and fall backwards. His hands were sweating and he prayed that the freak was either dead or unconscious.

“Run, Sakura! Run!” Takumi shouted to his sister.

“B-but you-”

“Go!” Takumi cried, digging the knife further into the person’s stomach, causing them to groan in agonizing pain. Blood was beginning to coat part of his hands, which was pretty disgusting.

Sakura panicked, stumbling to run, but she ended up sprinting to the direction of home. Tears were leaking from her eyes before, and Takumi kind of regretted stabbing someone in front of her. Knowing his sister, she was easily scarred by things. Well, at least she’ll be safe.

“S-she called y-you big brother, r-right?” A voice from below him managed to breathe out, confirming that it was a male. Takumi gulped, unsure what this guy was trying to intend. Apparently, this dude was assuming his silence meant a clear yes. And apparently there were more than one of them. A pair of strong arms wrapped around him, a hand holding a ragged cloth to his face.

Takumi didn’t want to breathe it in, didn’t want to succumb into the darkness that he knew was coming. He was thrashing, trying to struggle free only to find it pointless. He soon felt extremely tired, dizzy, his arms sank down to his sides and his eyelids felt heavier. Slowly, he fell limp in his captor’s arms.


	2. Clueless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo is beginning to learn of his father's secret plans for an all out war between Nohr and Hoshido. Basically just Leo being oblivious to the hurricane of chaos that is coming his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so here is Chapter 2!!! 
> 
> I don't know if this chapter is as short as I think it is, but we'll see. I hope you like it and don't think Xander is too OOC. He still loves and cares about his siblings soooooo much. His stupid father is just manipulating him and stuff.
> 
> Well hope you like it!

  
Leo closed the history book he was just getting intrigued by as his two sisters made their way over to him in his chambers. He hadn’t really seen his sisters all day. At first, Leo thought that Elise just wanted to play. However, that assumption quickly faded once he realized how late in the night was. Elise was stubborn, but she wouldn’t necessarily give up sleep unless it was for an important reason. He turned his body, changing his seated position on his desk chair.

“What is it that seeks my attention?” Leo asked, perfectly concealing his curiosity to know from his voice. He slightly toyed with the worn down leather cover of the history book, now partially closed on his table.

“Father wants to inform us of some news,” Camilla explained, smiling, adjusting Leo’s crooked headband. Leo softly scowled as the headband shifted uncomfortably on his head.

_What could possibly be so important?_

“Some servants around the castle were gossiping about a visitor!” Elise clapped her hands together excitedly. “Felicia and Jakob have been sent to clean a certain room.”

Leo couldn’t control the amused smile that appeared on his face. Knowing the two servants quite well, he had a feeling that Jakob was doing most of the cleaning compared to Felicia. He wondered if Jakob had snapped yet and kicked her out. However, Leo shook the thought out of his head, going back to the subject at hand.

 _Guest?_ This sure was news for Leo. Of course, he never was really the first to know about his father’s plans (that would be Xander), he still wasn’t last, like how he felt at the moment. Not only did that sting slightly, but it was no doubt just his father proving how Leo seemed be completely useless in his plans for Nohr.

“Interesting, Father hasn’t mentioned inviting any guests over,” Leo coolly replied, flipping to a random page in the book to loosen his stiff body.

He hoped Camilla didn’t sense anything that Leo had been thinking about in his head. His older sister somehow had a way of reading her siblings or possibly people in general like she was simply reading a book. Thankfully, this time it seemed to go past her since she was more focused on the information being shared.

“The hilarious fact about this situation, my darling,” Camilla laughed, still smiling sweetly at her siblings, “is that I don’t believe our guest was invited.”

“Hm? What are you suggesting, sister?”

Not invited. How else would this person be a ‘guest’ if they were not invited? Leo had completely stopped toying with the thick pages of the book or the worn cover.

“Camilla! I don’t understand either? I thought we were going to have another person to play with,” Elise exclaimed, as surprised as Leo. She seemed quite upset at the loss of a possible new friend, or unknown to her knowledge, another stuck up nobleman that found her bubbly personality irritating.

“I apologize for not saying this sooner, but,” Camilla explained, twirling her lavender hair in her fingers slightly, “Father also asked the servants to prepare a prison cell.”

A prison cell? They kidnapped someone? Maybe it was a criminal. A thief. A thug. That would be a reasonable person to throw in a cell. But why set up a room? Were they going to house a criminal? The mere thought made Leo shudder slightly, but lightly enough to not concern Camilla or Elise.

“Is there any more information on the matter?” Leo asked, only to frown at his sister’s unsure look. That was all they were told? That was all they were going to be told?

He knew that his father usually kept his plans a secret, however the king usually explained his plan to his children before he actually proceeded to act on it. This seemed more suspicious and confusing as time passed.

“Don’t worry, Leo!” Elise smiled brightly, in hopes to cheer him up, noticing his concentrated frown. “If you want to know more, you know exactly who to talk to.”

Xander. If their Father was really planning something, he would confide all plans and information to the crown prince of Nohr. Well, at least that was what he hoped Elise meant by ‘who.’ The only other person would be his Father and knowing the king, he would have murdered him for even pressing on the matter.

“Very well then,” Leo stood up from the comfortable chair he had been resting on, abandoning the book on the table, “I will see you both in the morning. Rest well.”

Camilla and Elise bid their farewells for the night and left to their quarters. Or more likely, Elise went off to Camilla’s room and stayed up doing whatever girls did during sleepovers.

With that, Leo made his way out of his room into the dark hallways of the Nohrian castle. Walking through what had felt like a giant stone maze, Leo made his way to his older brother’s quarters. As always when nearing his brother’s door, Leo felt a pit grow in his stomach. He knew he shouldn’t have been nervous to discuss anything with his older brother, since they were related after all. But he did feel nervous when he was talking to Crown Prince Xander, a natural leader, swordsman and clever general.

Leo knocked on the door, earning a “You may enter.”

With a deep breath, he opened the dark wooden door and stepped inside. The room wasn’t as cold as outside in the hallway, but it still sent a chill through the younger prince’s night clothing. The room was dimly light by a few candle lanterns. On a pristine wooden desk, far more superior and grand than Leo’s, were stacks of papers. Sitting on top of a soft desk chair was his older brother, writing a few things down on what appeared to be documents and notes on meetings.

Although they were all still young (He and Elise were practically considered children to the servants), Xander’s brains and brawn impressed everyone, including his father, earning him a spot to some of the important meetings in the castle or secret operations and missions on the field. According to his father, Xander was the key to Nohr’s future success.

Xander was busy signing something, pushing his short blonde curls behind his ear before he turned to Leo, giving him a small smile.

Leo was almost taken aback, remembering how similar Xander and his young father looked compared to one another. Leo remembered going through a few portraits that were stored away. When he came across one of his young father, he was nearly convinced that Xander had somehow managed to get a portrait painted for him and framed. When he learned that it was in fact Garon, Leo couldn’t help but feel more inferior to his older brother.

Leo snapped back to reality when Xander’s low voice spoke.

“Hello, Leo. It is very nice to see you,” Xander greeted him.

Leo understood what he meant, realizing how busy Xander had been to even hang out with his siblings as often as he did before. Leo actually missed talking with his older brother or even playing a game or two of chess. He had been especially busy this month, talking with their father more and doing more ‘paperwork.’

“Yes, as am I to you. However, I came to speak with you about some important matters,” Leo explained, unintentionally pacing back and forth. His older brother nodded his head, telling him to continue. This just reminded Leo how he seemed to be discussing with Prince Xander not Xander.

“I have just been informed that a ‘guest’ will be arriving to the castle soon,” Leo continued, trying to read any expression on his brother’s face, failing to do so. “But I’ve also learned that a room and cell have been prepared for said guest.”

“Yes, I believe Father has arranged that.”

Xander’s face remained unreadable and serious.

“I just want to know who this guest may be,” Leo stared at his brother for what felt like forever, waiting for a response. Xander seemed to ponder over Leo’s question as if he had to consider something at risk.

“I apologize, but I cannot reveal any more information to you aside from what has been given without Father’s permission,” Xander explained, lips pressing into a straight line.

Leo knew the rejection was coming, yet he still felt the slight shock. He should’ve mentally prepared himself more, but in all honesty, Leo thought that he would’ve gotten at least a sliver more of information before being shut down.

“I understand,” Leo filled his voice with as much understanding as he could, when in reality he didn’t get why or what was happening. He was hurt that his own brother wouldn’t even give him the slightest intel.

“You have paperwork to get back to,” Leo spoke again when the other didn’t seem to have more to say. “I should be going.”

Leo wasn’t wrong. From the looks of it his brother had a lot of work to do. A part of him wished he really didn’t so they could spend a bit more time together.

When Leo looked into Xander’s eyes, he saw something that wasn’t a hard stare. It felt as if his brother wanted to tell him something. Like it was hurting him to keep secrets from Leo. They looked warm and kind, just like how he remembered them being. That was the difference between Xander and his father. Xander’s eyes told Leo stories that he needed to decipher himself. While their father’s eyes looked dead, no story to tell as if he had no heart to care.

“It’s alright if you stay,” Xander seemed to be offering him. “I care about you little brother. I still treasure the moments we spend together.”

Leo nodded his head almost reassuringly, “I’m not saying I don’t like spending time with you. It’s just that it’s getting late.”

The two did care about one another, they were siblings. After all they’ve been through it would be hard to not consider staying with his brother for a few moments longer. However, Leo didn’t want Xander to get into the least bit of trouble because of him. The King was a man who took every bit of failure harshly. Unfinished paperwork would likely be one of them.

“Very well then,” Xander smiled again at the younger prince. “Rest well tonight, Leo.”

“Goodnight, Xander.”

Leo shut the door quietly behind him, praying that the older prince would forget that that even happened. Sighing, Leo made his way back to his room, sitting back at his desk. Somehow he managed to make it through the halls without a servant questioning why he was still awake or one of his idiotic retainers coming over to pester him. At least a bit of luck seemed to be on Leo’s side.

He pulled the history book back in front of him, flipping through the worn pages, humming quietly to himself. If only his genius older brother was as easy to read as an open book. Come to think of it, was Leo easy to read? Or did he actually succeed in hiding his real emotions? His thoughts seemed to take over, making whatever he had been reading uninteresting or irritating to actually enjoy.

Sighing once more, he closed the book having learned nothing new. The closed book seemed to taunt him in a way, almost tempting him to start reading again. It was already pretty late in the night, so Leo blew out the candle and laid down on his plush bed. The warm blankets welcomed him and he couldn’t help but bury his head into the soft bed pillows.

 _No_ _point_ _in_ _reading_ _when your mind_ _couldn’t focus on the story itself._

Leo grunted, pulling the head band out of his hair, placing it on his nightstand. After getting comfortable, the prince drifted to sleep, mind left wondering of what to come. Little did he know how unprepared he was for what was heading his way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I hope you at least found the chapter kind of interesting. It's kind of hinting how clueless Leo really is in the situation. So... If Leo is kind of a jerk or a douche to Takumi at first... It's because he has no idea what's really going on. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


	3. Chained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takumi begins to become part of King Garon's plan. The Nohrian King's plan to lure Hoshido into war commences and Takumi must pay the price for being a part of it. 
> 
> (Warning : There's blood and stuff like that, but not too bad)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I have to admit to you guys now, that I have a slight problem. Just slight. 
> 
> The thing is since you already know I have like 14 chapters already written out... I've been updating in like lightning speed. Sorry-not-sorry. So if you think I'm a weirdo with no life because I'm posting a new chapter everyday... I don't usually update this fast unless I have 60 chapters already made and ready.
> 
> On another note, this is the point when I realized that all my chapters started with the letter 'c', so I just went with it. 
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter (how can you like it? My baby gets hurt!) I mentioned there would be some blood, but it's not like cringe worthy or gory. 
> 
> This note is getting really long now! Oops! Enjoy the story

Takumi woke up, shivering, side sore from lying on rough stone. He hugged his arms around himself, desperate to feel the slightest of warmth. His head slightly ached, but he could care less when he felt like he was stuck in a snowstorm.

Takumi was sent flying to the other side of the small room he was put in, making him realize he was riding in a carriage. _Carriage?_ Memories of being knocked out caused Takumi to shiver even more. Was he going to be killed? Torn apart so his body parts could be thrown all across Hoshido, scarring and haunting his siblings forever?

His siblings. Takumi hoped Sakura made it back home safely, hoping no more of those weird thug guys caught her and thrown her into a carriage like this one.

His arms and legs remained heavy. Why did he feel so sluggish and weak? What did they do to him?

Although his hands were numb and it was fairly dark in the carriage, he could tell that the blood was no longer on his hands. At least his kidnappers had the decency to wash them.

The carriage hit another bump. Takumi used all his might to raise up his arms, weakly scratching on the metal door. He couldn’t escape in a state like this. Or any state for that matter. He wondered how weak everyone thought he was now. The prince who couldn’t manage to protect himself from goons. Too weak and pathetic to defend himself. He sighed, almost in defeat before he noticed the carriage slowing down.

It abruptly turned, causing Takumi to smack onto one side. Rubbing his arm that he unfortunately fell upon, Takumi heard the horses neighing at the front and a few low voices grunting and yelling orders. Where was he? What time was it?

The door suddenly opened, which would’ve made Takumi jump if his legs didn’t feel asleep. He was met with a disgusting grin from a soldier. A soldier decked in Nohrian armour. Takumi wasn’t as stupid as everyone thought he was. He knew the other kingdom’s armour, being able to spot an enemy from miles away.

But that meant that his captors weren’t Hoshidan as Takumi had initially thought they were.

_Great. What were Nohrian goons doing in Hoshido? And why were they trying to capture Sakura?_

If Takumi ever got out of this alive and managed to get back to his family, he would smack the Hoshidan guards that patrolled at the border senseless.

The soldier stared at him, expectantly as if Takumi would get up and out of the carriage himself. It wasn’t like he could really stand up anyway. The man huffed, impatiently and frustratedly.

A giant, strong hand grabbed Takumi’s arm, literally dragging him out of the carriage. He was met with harsh cold wind, which he wasn’t exactly prepared for. And he thought the carriage was chilly. With a soft thud, he landed on a dirt path, legs still refusing to work. He then realized that it was night, and he was facing the Nohrian castle, Castle Krakenberg another landmark he had to memorize. Being honest here, it looked a whole lot creepier and bigger in person than it did in illustrations in the history books he read through.

The stone walls that made up the castle gave off a menacing vibe, already telling the second Hoshidan prince that the hallways would be dim and dark.

“C’mon, get up!” one of the thugs ordered through gritted teeth. “His majesty is waiting.”

Takumi wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to be stubborn or because his legs were still tired, since he barely moved an inch after that supposedly threatening order.

“Hurry up!” another one shouted, kicking his side roughly as if that would help.

Takumi bit his lip from the pain. However, the fact that they were being so rough with him, yet had cleaned his hands had amused him.

Takumi used all his strength to stand up, legs wobbling, weighing more than a million stones. He felt himself sway and stumble, nearly falling on his face before someone caught him. He was a tall man, decked in polished armour. He had a few gray hairs here and there and faint wrinkles beginning to form on his face. Though his scar that was drawn diagonally on his face was the most noticeable feature in the moonlight. It reminds Takumi of the Kinshi Knight back in the Hoshidan army named Reina, giving Takumi a rush of homesickness.

Surprisingly, the man smiled kindly (something you wouldn’t expect most Nohrian soldiers to do). In fact you also wouldn’t expect them to catch you when you were about to face plant onto the ground. Takumi was taught that the Nohrians would’ve watched and laughed at your constant failures, yet this one soldier had stopped him from harming himself even further.

“Looks like someone’s still a bit woozy,” the man chuckled slightly before picking up Takumi like he weighed nothing (making him curse on how short and light he was). “Let me help.”

Takumi was thrown over his shoulder, shoulder armour digging into his gut. Not cool. Takumi wished his legs weren’t sluggish so he could’ve kicked this guy in the face for doing this. It was humiliating, having to be carried to wherever the stupid Nohrian King was.

Which reminded him. Takumi realized he was being taken to their King. What did that old hag want from him? More importantly, what had he wanted from Sakura? And if the goons kidnapped him, would that mean that Sakura wasn’t one hundred percent needed for the cruel king’s plans?

While he was being carried towards the entrance, Takumi realized that it hadn’t been night after all and the sky was beginning to turn into a light morning grey. He really hoped that Nohrian people weren’t morning people. Much to his dismay, Nohrian servants seemed to strive to become the best, waking up at the crack of dawn to get to work.

As they entered the castle, Takumi saw servants and maids walking through the halls and a few people he believed were retainers. A few caught his eye, causing him to look away in embarrassment. He already hated it here and had a feeling everyone was already judging him.

It was still unbearably chilly in the castle. Being forced in such an odd position on the soldier’s broad shoulder prevented Takumi from huddling into a ball for any possible warmth.

They stopped in front of what he thought to be two doors. You couldn’t blame him he couldn’t really see what was behind him. His legs were also starting to work now, so Takumi wanted to smack the soldier, but the man was luckily covered in armour.

“You may put him down now, Gunter,” a low voice commanded. _Gunter?_ Ridiculous name.

Gunter placed Takumi on the floor. In the room were four children standing beside the ugly king who sat on his ivory throne. He glared at all of them, already hating all of their stupid Nohrian faces.

“I believe I asked for the girl, why is this in front of me?” King Garon asked, addressing one of the thugs or soldiers. Takumi tried not to stumble standing there. Thankfully, he succeeded and started to get feeling _completely_ back into his weakened limbs.

“The girl got away, but we managed to get her brother,” he explained. “All in all though, your plan will succeed with either one.”

King Garon nodded his head slightly.

Takumi could’ve sighed in relief. So Sakura did manage to get away safely. Even if he was stuck in Nohr, the news made Takumi happy and relieved.

“How did she manage to get away from _my_ men?” The king asked, curiosity hinted in his voice and tone.

To be frank, the Nohrian soldiers didn’t exactly come up with the best attack plan. Takumi did, after all, stab only one of them in order for Sakura to run away to safety. He knew Sakura wasn’t the strongest of people, but only sending one soldier to get her was still a risk in itself. And look what happened when they followed that plan. Nohrian blood on Hoshidan soil.

“Er-well, um, your highness,” another spoke up. “This boy stabbed one of our men, allowing her to escape.”

One of the children gasped. It was a girl with pigtails, a purple streak in each. She looked horrified to hearing a Nohrian got stabbed by him. Takumi found it more unfortunate that the goon got stabbed by someone as pathetic as him, more so than the fact that he was cut. Rolling his eyes, he shifted his focus on the other girl standing next to her. She was taller and had lavender hair. She seemed to try to comfort the younger and shorter one.

Sakura was probably less horrified and she actually saw him stab the guy. The small girl was whimpering over nothing.

Takumi’s attention went back to the king when his voice echoed through the room.

“I see,” the King grinned as he saw Takumi once again. “Bow before your King, boy.”

Takumi would’ve stabbed him too if he could. How dare he tell- no order him to bow before him or even call him _his_ King. His only King was his father, Sumeragi not some pruning monster sitting on a throne he wasn’t worthy of.

“You’re not my King,” Takumi said, filling it with as much venom as he could pour into his voice. He knew that he would eventually get beaten or smacked for saying that, so he had to put as much hatred as he could into those four words.

The King’s smile faded, before it returned again. “I said bow before your King, foolish boy!”

Someone shoved him onto the ground, a foot kicking his back so he bowed before the Nohrian King.

“Good,” he could hear the King’s grin. “Take him to the cell, Iago will deal with him in a moment.”

With that, Takumi was being dragged away.

Before the doors could close he caught the eye of a blonde boy. He wore a headband and fine armour. Takumi already despised what he assumed to be the second Nohrian Prince. Takumi would’ve glared at him, but he couldn’t stifle his laughter when he saw that the prince’s collar was inside out. The prince stared at him confused as the doors closed.

The stone hallways of Castle Krakenberg were just as confusing and hard to remember the second time being dragged through them.

Takumi was brought to a dark cell where an odd looking man was waiting. Half of his face was hidden by the ugliest looking golden mask and headpiece he had ever laid eyes upon. The man grinned sadistically when he saw Takumi.

“Let’s begin shall we?” his voice was threaded with so much enjoyment and excitement it made Takumi shiver. The top part of his clothing was suddenly yanked down leaving his torso exposed. The cool air stung his skin, however that wasn’t the worst of it.

A leather whip suddenly met his back, burning and searing into it, causing Takumi to let out a strangled cry. It was followed by another lash and another. Takumi heard loud ringing in his ears, yet he could still hear the sound of laughter echo through the cell. He couldn’t breathe, his back was on fire. Blood was trickling down the outline of his spine, still warm.

He wanted to cry, but he didn’t. He wanted to throw up, but he didn’t. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t let the Nohrians have the satisfaction of seeing how weak and fragile he was. The Hoshidans already had that satisfaction. Already seen that part of him.

Thankfully, the whipping stopped, allowing him to breathe again. Sweat poured down from his forehead that he managed to wipe away. Tears threatened to pour out, which he wiped away as well. Blood still trickled down his back, flooding over pouring wounds, lashes that scarred him. The cool air felt like needles poking at the fresh cuts.

The man, that Takumi now realized must've been Iago, walked over, a stupid grin plastered on his face. He pulled out a clean white cloth. Kneeling down, he dabbed the silk with Takumi’s blood. Smiling at the new red stain, he put the cloth away and ordered the servants to ‘clean’ Takumi up. Suddenly, maids were disinfecting his wounds and wrapping bandages around his torso. After that, they helped him put the top part of his ensemble back on. An old woman smiled, helping him onto his feet and leading him somewhere else.

His back still burned intensely from his injuries, not allowing him to even catch up that well with the elderly servant. However Takumi was more focused on something else.

What the heck just happened? He was just whipped in a Nohrian cell. Where were they taking him now. To become Wyvern food? Then why did the bandage him? So he wouldn’t make a mess on the floor? Wait, then why did that creep, Iago take some of his blood? This didn’t make any sense.

At this rate, Takumi was going to get another headache.

The maid opened a door, urging him into a room. What now? Were they going to stab him in this room and send him off to be burned in another? However, Takumi was met with four children. Four children that had stood beside their father. Four children who were just in the room staring at him.

_Great._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Later on today, I'll most likely post Chapter 4 since it's basically this chapter but in Leo's POV. Plus as I mentioned before... LIGHTNING FAST UPDATES FOR DA WIN!!!
> 
> Poor Takumi! Don't worry, Leo will fix what is slowly starting to break inside you. (Holy cow, that was a good sentence. I've got to use that some time in the fic)
> 
> See you soon... And I mean real soon because... You know already. :)


	4. Clarify

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo meets Takumi for the first time. With the mix of being grumpy in the morning and the slight already forming frustration with the Hoshidan... Let's just say it's not the best first meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lightning fast updates may slow down a bit because the weekends are almost over. :(
> 
> Stupid school! You just have to bud into my Astra. 
> 
> I'll still update fairly quickly, just not lightning quickly.

  
Leo wasn’t expected to be forced awake so early in the morning and rushed to dress up. He barely had enough time to even look in the mirror to make sure he looked presentable for his father.

He had learned the hard way once when a rich nobleman came to visit the King, offering a handful of money for the kingdom’s army. Leo had just learned how to dress himself without the help of any servants. However, he had buttoned his shirt incorrectly and received a slap to the face and a punishment for his naïveté.

Maids were rushing everywhere and servants were trying to get something ready. Slightly grumpy from being woken up so early, Leo entered the throne room with a heavy sigh before standing next to Xander, with perfectly practiced posture. Elise, Camille and Xander were already there, as if they were waiting for him. He wasn’t exactly known for being tardy, so it was slightly frustrating realizing that he was the last one to get there.

His father looked the same as always. Decked in furs, velvet and gold, still wearing the stoney glare that sent shivers down his spine. How did he always look so menacing?

Luckily, his father didn’t seem to notice that Leo had just slipped beside his siblings. This made Leo extremely relieved. He was not willing to take another one of his father’s blows at the moment.

Suddenly the doors opened. Gunter entered carrying a kid, before placing the person on the ground. Leo wasn’t sure if the person was a male, the long silver hair startled him slightly. His clothing was also not Nohrian, which said a lot already.

“I believe I asked for the girl, why is this in front of me?” Father asked, raising an eyebrow.

So it was a boy. But Leo still had another mystery to solve. Who was ‘the girl’ his father had ordered for?

One of his men explained what had happened, informing Leo that she managed to escape, but the boy in front of them could still work in the plan. What plan? This was slightly frustrating Leo on how clueless he felt standing there.

How he felt like the useless pawn in game that bent the rules and made no sense anymore.

“How did she manage to get away from _my_ men?” Father asked.

The Nohrian King was never impressed when his army or soldiers failed to do something he ordered correctly. Leo had witnessed what his father would do to some unlucky soldiers who ruined some of the king’s plans. Sometimes the mere remembrance of it made Leo want to vomit.

“Er-well, um, your highness,” someone spoke up. “This boy stabbed one of our men, allowing her to escape.”

Stabbed? What was this kid’s sick twisted plan? To kill all Nohrians in sight? Who goes off and just stabs someone? Leo couldn’t help but glare at the boy, who was glaring at everyone in the room himself.

His father continued to speak, but Leo paid no mind to it. He was more focused on the silver haired boy that seemed to want to choke everyone surrounding him. What was his problem?

Suddenly, the guy was forced to bow to his father. Leo saw how much hatred the guy felt for the castle he stood in, even mentioning how his father was not his King. This kid was most definitely Hoshidan. Leo had no idea why his father would want his men to bring a Hoshidan into his castle.

Just as suddenly as he came in, he was being dragged out to meet Iago, his father’s second hand man. No doubt was he going to the cell that Camilla had mentioned was being prepared.

On his way out, the boy caught his glaring eye. However, instead of glaring back as Leo thought he would, he cracked a smile, breathing out a laugh and the doors were closed before he could even see what was enlightening him. Shrugging it off, Leo turned to his older brother for further orders. The boy was Hoshidan. They probably laughed at weird moments all the time.

“Follow me,” Xander motioned for all of them to come with him through the hallways. Even if he wasn’t told much, Leo still appreciated that their father had at the very least got them to be partially involved with this. However, it was quite clear that Xander knew a lot more than any of the siblings.

They entered the small guest room that Camilla had also mentioned was prepared.

Xander explained that they were all waiting for the Hoshidan boy to come in.

Leo remembered Iago being mentioned. He was probably just chatting with their new ‘guest’ and informing him of the rules of the castle, warning him about the dangers and possible consequences of trying to escape. Iago had a way of messing with people with just words. However if he needed his illusions to help him as well, the boy should most definitely know not to escape. After all he was a Hoshidan in Nohrian territory.

So, Leo and his siblings patiently waited. And waited. This was taking longer than Leo thought it would’ve.

“He stabbed someone,” Elise said, sounding as if she was trying to convince herself it had happened.

Elise was usually the one who didn’t really witness his father’s cruelty and Leo would like to keep it that way. The fact that the Hoshidan was the reason why Elise seemed so worried and upset made Leo hate him even more.

“Yes, darling he did,” Camilla patted her shoulder, lovingly.

“You shouldn't fret Elise,” Xander smiled, reassuring her. “The soldier is fine and in medical treatment at the moment.”

“Really?” Elise brightly smiled, happiness bubbling over her sadness from before.

“And don’t worry, dear, I won’t let him lay a single finger on you. Or any of you for that matter,” Camilla exclaimed, ruffling Leo’s hair and putting a hand on Xander’s shoulder.

“That is nice to hear, Camilla,” Xander said. “But I assure you all that he will be obeying us, after all he’s on our watch.”

They had to babysit him too? Leo sighed, wishing Iago would do whatever he was doing faster.

As if on cue, the door flew open, revealing one of the many maids ushering the boy in. He looked slightly uncomfortable and it seemed as if he was cautiously stepping into the chamber. Leo couldn’t help but scoff. Did this guy really think they were going to shoot him when he entered?

“Hello,” Xander greeted him first. “I am Crown Prince Xander and these are my siblings, Princess Camilla, Prince Leo and Princess Elise.”

He looked at all of us, before his amber eyes went back to look at Xander.

The room fell silent for a while until Leo finally decided to break the silence by clearing his throat.

“And you are?” Leo asked, raising a brow. He earned a deadly glare from the boy, but it didn’t bother him the slightest bit, in fact it only made him smirk.

“Why should I tell you?” he stubbornly asked.

“You will be staying here for quite some time,” Xander explained, preventing Leo from telling the boy how idiotic he was being. “It’s best if we have a name to call you by.”

The silver haired boy only rolled his amber eyes, refusing to even say his name. Who did he think he was? The prince of a kingdom? He had no right to treat all of them with such disrespect and impoliteness. It also added to the fact that Leo and his siblings were royalty. Did Hoshidans not teach their children proper manners and respect?

“Can you please tell me your name?” Elise pleaded, walking towards him.

He appeared to be surprised by her sudden actions and backed away from her, only for Leo’s sister to follow.

“Pretty please!” Elise grabbed his wrist pulling him into a tight hug. “Please, please, please!”

For some reason, the boy seemed to be in pain since he was grimacing. Leo could’ve sworn he saw him tear up a bit. He knew Elise’s hugs were strong, but they weren’t that strong. This kid was extremely weak. First, he had to be carried to the castle and now he couldn’t even handle his little sister’s bear hug? Pathetic.

“Ok fine, just let go,” he whimpered, proving Leo’s point on how weak he was. “Takumi. My- my name is Takumi.”

“Ta-koo-mee?” Elise repeated, slightly puzzled before smiling brightly. “Okay! Thank you, Takumi!”

It almost appeared that Elise had already warmed up to their ‘guest.’ Leo shouldn’t have been surprised though. The youngest princess never held a grudge against Hoshido or thought ill minded about them. She treated Hoshidans and Nohrians with the same respect and acted friendly to both. It was the idea of peace between the two kingdoms that Elise harboured and Leo wanted to eventually learn.

“Is that it?” Leo asked, earning a glare from Xander for his snappy tone.

“You got my first name,” Takumi huffed. “You don’t need or deserve my last.”

This Takumi guy was a serious brat.

“I understand,” Xander replied, remaining calm and polite. How was this guy not getting on his nerves?

“This is the room you’ll be staying in,” Camilla explained, gesturing to the room they were standing in.

“Room? You’re not going to throw me into a cell?” Takumi asked, confused.

“Of course not, silly,” Camilla laughed. “Why would we ever do that?”

Takumi still seemed wary about everything and everyone. He looked at Camilla with slight disbelief as if knowing that she was lying. Despite that, Leo had no clue whether his sister was lying or not. Her sweet smile concealed whatever thoughts she really felt.

“You’ll be spending most of your time here,” Xander continued, “however, you will need a someone to guide and check up on you. So I have assigned Leo with that task.”

Leo was horrified. He was supposed to look after that rude, bratty Hoshidan? This wasn’t fair. What did he ever do to deserve this? He followed and obeyed his Father and he tried his best to become a proper prince for the kingdom. Besides Leo didn’t even know why this guy was even in the castle. Why did he have to get tortured? He understood that Xander was far too busy, but why was Leo the unfortunate one who was chosen?

“Leo, I expect the best from you,” Xander frowned, noticing Leo’s annoyance. “I believe in your abilities, little brother.”

He put a strong hand on Leo’s shoulder for a brief moment before leaving the room, along with his two sisters, leaving Leo with the idiot.

Leo noticed Takumi shiver a few times, but didn’t mention anything. If the Hoshidan was cold, then it wasn’t Leo’s problem.

“Let’s make this clear,” Leo was the first to speak. “I’m not in the mood for any ungrateful brats.”

“Ungrateful?” Takumi hissed. “You think I _want_ to be here?”

“Well, we are treating you respectfully,” Leo shot back. “The least you could do is be thankful you aren’t rotting away in a dungeon cell.”

“Respectfully?” Takumi questioned. “I was thrown into the back of a carriage and was knocked out for the majority of the ride.”

“You probably deserved it for stabbing one of my father’s men,” Leo pointed out.

“I did what I had to,” Takumi explained. “Besides, that guy deserved to be stabbed anyway.”

“How dare you!” Leo angrily yelled. “You think so highly of yourself, yet you’re just a rude, impolite, weak and bratty boy.”

“You think I’m rude,” Takumi nearly laughed. “I’m not the one who kidnaps people and whi-, I mean treats them poorly.”

“Poorly?” It was Leo’s turn to almost laugh. “Why don't you look at the room nicely set up for you before you say such an absurd sentence.”

“Well, everyone in your family is… Is stupid!” Takumi yelled.

Leo raised an eyebrow. Was that the best he could come up with? Takumi suddenly flushed red in embarrassment and raised his arms to cross them, only to not so subtly wince in pain again.

Seriously, was this guy made of glass?

“At least I know how to dress myself,” Takumi grinned, confusing Leo. What could he possibly mean by that? Leo could dress himself fine.

“Your collar’s inside out genius.”

It was Leo’s turn to blush in embarrassment. Takumi laughed. And for some reason, Leo should’ve been bothered by it, but he wasn't. Instead, Takumi’s laugh didn’t make his blood boil. It didn’t make him want to punch him in the face. However, Leo shook the thought off and glared at him.

“Think about how lucky you are to even be standing, healthy and alive,” Leo spat before walking out of the room. He could’ve sworn he saw Takumi shiver again as he left. This guy was too fragile and sensitive for his own good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my... Leo, why you gotta be a jerk at the moment? Oh well, you can't exactly blame him, he still has no clue what's going on. But still, that sass though.
> 
> Also, Silmarwen! Takumi got a hug...it was just a PAINFUL experience for him... Literally.
> 
> Stay tuned for the next chapter, cause we'll be traveling to Hoshido.


	5. Confirmation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hoshidan royal family discover the unfortunate events that had spiraled both kingdoms into a possible undeclared war. 
> 
> (This chapter takes place after the events of Chapter 1, so Takumi is not in Nohr just yet. He's probably knocked out in the carriage).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! The first Hoshido chapter (of many to come).
> 
> The ending notes will probably be way longer, so make sure to read those. They hold important info that I want to explain about the chapter. 
> 
> Until then, I hope you're interested in reading more about how the Hoshidan royal family is affected by Takumi's kidnapping. 
> 
> And in the next Hoshido chapter (I think) Oboro and Hinata will be there!

Ryoma wasn’t sure what he was expecting when Sakura came running inside, panting heavily, tears in her eyes. He knew it was very irresponsible for him to have went back to the castle without his two other siblings, but remembering how paranoid Takumi was, he believed that he dragged Sakura back sooner. This was not the case however, confusing him when he had arrived before the younger two. 

Hinoka and Corrin had ran over to him immediately after he stepped foot into their home. Corrin, excitedly explained how Hinoka’s first lesson went. Much to Hinoka’s dismay, Corrin droned on about how long it took for her to get on the saddle without assistance. Then, his sister burst out laughing, mentioning how Hinoka had ended up sitting backwards on the Pegasus. Although this was quite entertaining to hear, Ryoma was more concerned whether or not Takumi and Sakura had returned yet. 

“It’s not like you can even ride one,” Hinoka glared, jokingly punching Corrin’s shoulder. She laughed once she saw how Corrin’s hilarity turned to a small pout. The two continued to laugh and go on about some advisor they both saw during the day. Ryoma interrupted them before they could mention some toupée that flew off during the lesson.

“Excuse me for interrupting this conversation,” he apologized briefly, “but have Sakura and Takumi returned yet?”

“No,” Corrin shook her head, confused. “I thought that they returned with you. I was just going to find them.”

“Unfortunately they did not leave the Hoshidan square with me,” Ryoma frowned upon hearing Corrin’s concern. Where were they? Were they still outside? It was night, why could they have possibly been staying out there?

“Should I prepare a search party?” Hinoka asked, worriedly. At the moment, it seemed like a good idea, but he wondered whether his parents would believe they were all foolish. Just three paranoid children who couldn’t wait a minute longer for their two irresponsible younger siblings, dashing up the castle steps just in the nick of time for dinner. 

“Big brother,” Corrin spoke softly, concern laced in her voice as well. “Were they with any people when you left them?”

Ryoma remembered leaving when a family wanted him to try out their new tea at their just opened tea shop. A few of their daughters needed help carrying boxes into the store, so he had kindly helped them out. Soon more citizens wanted to inform him of any problems or to talk about how responsible he was for going down to the square to check on them.

Sakura had mentioned that she wanted to help an elderly woman with her flower shop, so Ryoma had put Takumi in charge of watching over her while he was busy. He trusted his brother to keep the princess safe. Right now he was wondering what Takumi’s excuse could possibly be now. Did they get lost in an empty town square? Or did he get too paranoid and leave her by herself?

Ryoma never liked insulting his siblings. He never wanted to think about their flaws or negative aspects. And it was especially unlike him to even think for a mere second that Takumi had done something stupid. He never wanted to ever believe he would become like the Hoshidans his brother would mention in hushed whispers. The ones who thought of him as the useless prince. The unwanted and not needed one.

Even if Hoshido had one prince, Ryoma couldn’t imagine not having his younger brother by his side as the second. Life wouldn’t feel right, and as much as he wanted to assure his brother that he was important, it never seemed to change anything. 

If Ryoma didn’t say anything, it wouldn’t make a difference for anyone.

Just as Ryoma was about to tell them to reconsider the search party and tell Corrin the story, Sakura came running in. Her face was flushed from running and tears and sweat were dripping down her face. However, there seemed to be more tears. 

“Big brother,” Sakura hiccuped, burying her face into her brother’s chest as she embraced him. 

What had happened? Why was she crying?

The first thing Ryoma did, was make sure Sakura wasn’t injured. However, his first assumption proved to be incorrect as his younger sister was free of any scars or scrapes that Ryoma believed she had been crying about. That fact eased him up a bit, but she still seemed distressed about something, making Ryoma quite worried again.

“I- I,” she continued to sob, unable to even make up words or finish a sentence. “I- useless- fault.”

Useless? Was she saying she was useless or was Takumi useless? Fault? Her’s or his? Ryoma had trouble piecing the broken words, while Hinoka and Corrin comforted her. 

“It’s all right now, Sakura,” Corrin reassured her, although she was unsure of what her sister needed to be reassured about. “There’s no need to cry.” 

“B- but, I was s-,” she started, however Hinoka stopped her.

“Whatever happened, we can talk about it later,” she shushed her younger sister who was now dabbing away loose falling tears. “Right now, Corrin will get you a wet cloth to wash your face.”

“Wait, why me?” Corrin scoffed, before realizing how inconsiderate her tone and sentence was. “I- I mean, right away.”

She dashed out, unprincess like, but no one was going to tell her to stop and start again.

Ryoma was half expecting for Takumi to come barging in, screaming that it wasn’t his fault. Whatever ‘it’ was. Then, Ryoma would tell him that it was no one’s fault and Hinoka would call him stupid for hurting Sakura. After that, Corrin would tell Hinoka to consider how Takumi feels and they would have some argument over this till the sun rose. 

This didn’t happen though, and later on, Ryoma would’ve prayed to every lord and God there was, wishing that this little scene did play out. He had never really wished as he did for such a silly disagreement. 

Instead, Corrin had returned wet towel in hand, but also with a concerned face. She handed the cloth to Sakura who thanked her warmly. Corrin looked around the room, clearly nervous. 

“Father and mother would like to speak with us,” Corrin explained. “Now.”

The four of them got up, silently leaving the room, curiosity filling the air, almost creating it’s own aura. One you could move your hand through and feel it’s presence. Something felt so strong, the four of them could feel it. As if the tension in the air was choking them as they took each steady but unsure step towards their parents’ chambers. 

After politely knocking, they slid open the door and stepped inside. Their mother and father were resting on a few pillows on the ground, a letter on the small table in front of them. The letter had been already opened, addressed to the royal family of Hoshido. Mikoto, their mother had clearly been crying, however she had wiped away the tears. Her eyes were still red and puffy and her smile seemed sad and forced when they entered. 

Sumeragi’s expression was always hard to read, however you could make out that he seemed to be distressed about something. 

Sakura’s eyes filled with tears, immediately after she saw a glimpse of the opened letter. 

“Sakura, my dear, please do not cry,” Mikoto hugged her lovingly, tears beginning to form in her own eyes. 

“What is the problem, Father?” Hinoka asked. Her hands were fidgeting nervously.

“A few knights have delivered this letter to us, having been found in the middle of the town's square,” Sumeragi explained, voice low and somewhat softer.

“We have read what had happened in the letter and are upset to inform you that,” Mikoto’s voice slowly trailed off, as she held back her tears. “That…”

“Your brother Takumi had been taken by Nohrian soldiers,” Sumeragi finished. “He is now held captive in their castle.”

Hinoka own eyes were met with tears, but she held them back, swallowing hard and glaring at the letter sitting on the table. Corrin looked angry at first, her emotions unsure since she seemed to flash to sadness immediately after. Ryoma felt as if something was trying to stop him. Stop him from moving, blinking, breathing.

He felt his blood boil, anger and sadness numbing his body. Pressing his lips into a thin line his grey eyes looked over to Sakura who spoke quietly.

“I’m so sorry,” Sakura sniffled, “this is all my fault.”

“It’s not-” Corrin began.

“I should’ve been stronger. It should’ve been me who was taken away,” Sakura explained, voice cracking. “It was supposed to be me.”

“What?” Hinoka asked, surprised.

“The soldier grabbed me. They wanted me,” Sakura continued, her voice louder than it usually was. “But he saved me. He stabbed the soldier and told me to run.”

Millions of emotions flashed on each face. At this point nobody knew if the other was sad, angry or both.

“So I did,” she choked out the next sentence. “I saw a few more soldiers coming, but they didn’t see me. I should’ve ran back and warned him or helped. But I’m so weak.”

“Sakura, this isn’t your fault,” Corrin whispered, tears falling down her cheeks as well. 

Corrin was right. It wasn’t the youngest princess’ fault. 

It was his.

If Ryoma just listened to Takumi’s concerns, maybe neither of them would’ve had the chance of being kidnapped. Then nobody would’ve gotten hurt. 

One measly knife was their only protection. And it was because of Ryoma. He couldn’t even think of himself as a good prince or a good brother. Not after how naïve he had acted that day. How he was blinded by Hoshido’s bright colours. How he himself only saw the light, ignoring the dark shadows that would eventually form. He regretted every single second that replayed in his head over and over again. Ryoma’s own mind was now furiously reminding him and haunting him. 

It was his fault that Takumi was taken. And now it was also his fault that Sakura was blaming herself. He stroked her back, comfortingly as salty tears began to fall down her cheeks. She shouldn’t have to feel this way. She had to know that she wasn’t the one to blame. That if hadn’t been for Ryoma’s obliviousness all of them would be fine. 

“You’re right. It’s those Nohrian scum!” Hinoka spat through gritted teeth, interrupting whatever Ryoma wanted to say. Hot tears flew from her eyes as she glared at nothing, wanting nothing more than to run over to the Nohrian castle and kill the King with her very own hands. 

“What will we be doing, Father?” Ryoma asked. 

“Obviously, we have to bring him back,” Hinoka exclaimed. 

“We don’t know what they’ll do to him in Nohr,” Corrin added, dabbing her eyes. 

“We do not have a plan yet, but I will come up with one soon,” Sumeragi explained. “Until then, please rest. Believe your brother will be fine.”

Although those words were meant to give the siblings hope, all it did was make everyone more anxious, angry, frustrated and upset. It just reminded them that they didn’t know whether or not Takumi was doing fine. They didn’t know if their father was going to do something, or set up a plan to bring him home. All they could do was hope. And soon the four of them would find out how meaningless the word hope meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. A lot of crying just happened. 
> 
> I'm sorry if only the girls cried... I feel really sexist now. But I kind of don't see Sumeragi or Ryoma to really be the type to cry. If you want him to idk, tear up, tell me in the comments and maybe I'll edit that in there. 
> 
> I know some of you are going to laugh at me and yell WAIT A SECOND! How the hell did they leave a letter when they were expecting to kidnap Sakura but ended up with Takumi... Well I'm here to tell you that, idk, they have really fast writer peoples? (okay, I know. I'm stupid, but I'm trying my best okay?)
> 
> Can't you just like pretend that the letter just magically appeared by some amazing Nohrian soldier who can write well. Like I don't know, Gunter?
> 
> Poor Sakura is going to feel guilty for a very long time... Just you wait for the next Hoshidan chapter. (Sorry, can't remember the number of the next one).
> 
> Well thanks for reading! See you next time! ^ v ^


	6. Compatibility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, Leo and Takumi talk a bit more and realize maybe the other isn't so bad after all... Or in other words, not as insufferable as they first expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy, did I slack off. I'm so sorry!
> 
> School stresses me out! Too many tests and exams! Why? 
> 
> I meant to post this chapter yesterday! Oh well, hope you enjoy this and maybe the wait made it more...idk entertaining?

Takumi couldn’t sleep that night. His mind was racing, his heart was beating rapidly and his back was burning.

He had stubbornly just sat on the floor for what felt like hours before finally giving in when the cold was too unbearable. He slipped into the thin blankets that were provided for him. However, due to his whip lashes, he couldn’t sleep on his back, leaving him lying on his side or his stomach. He wasn’t the most comfortable, but at the very least he was slightly warm.

Whenever he drifted off to sleep, he would be awakened by nightmarish thoughts, haunting him. How monsters would grab and pull at him, cutting him and stabbing him, dragging him into the Nohrian castle where he was thrown in a giant black bird cage. Low laughter would echo through the dark corridors of his dreams. He still shuddered at the thought of it. Unable to sleep, Takumi decided to sit up and wait.

He considered trying to escape, only to know that he would fail miserably without a doubt. Although, he knew there weren’t guards guarding his door, there was no way he was running out of the castle without being shot at or captured again. He also overheard a few servants explaining how the Nohrian King had recruited more men for his every growing army. Takumi wanted to punch a wall. He’d never make it. With a sigh, Takumi let his eyes wander around the room.

Even when he was little (well _younger_ ) he was told that his eyesight was very good. Having good night vision came in handy, especially in a place like Nohr. Not much was in this room, obviously. It wasn’t like they were just going to hand him a bunch of supplies and what not.

Slowly moving out of the bed, Takumi stood on his feet, silently walking towards a small desk. On top were three books, a stack of blank paper and an ink pot and quill (which he did not know how to use). Back in Hoshido, they used calligraphy brushes. Much to Takumi’s dismay he highly doubted that they would have any decent brushes in Nohr.

Pulling one book off from the stack, Takumi placed it in front of him on the desk. Not wanting to go through the trouble of finding a candle to light, Takumi decided it was best to just read it in the morning.

Shivering once more, Takumi crept back into his bed, avoiding his injuries as best he could. That Elise girl earlier had rekindled the fire that was dissipating on his back. It hurt so bad that Takumi could’ve sworn she started the bleeding again. Wondering whether blood had seeped from the bandages onto his clothing made him crack a smile at the thought. Oboro would’ve murdered him if she had found out he got blood on his clothes.

Takumi realized how badly he would miss his friends. Hinata and Oboro, two different, idiotic villagers in Hoshido who just happened to befriend him. He never thought he’d miss the two so much. He remembered when Hinata declared he’d grow his hair long too if Takumi did.

How the three of them would hang out. Oboro would show them her designs in clothing, beautiful sketches that had inspired Takumi to draw a bit more and Hinata would try to skip rocks on the water, only for them to fall down with a plop after he roughly threw them, unbeknownst to his own strength. Takumi had never realized how grateful he was for those two. He never realized how they made him feel like he was important, cause he was important in their eyes. Unlike around so many other Hoshidans, he didn’t feel useless with them.

Takumi sighed, burying his face into one of the pillows. _Boy, did he feel_ _useless now_.

Somehow, he managed to fall asleep again, only to be startled awake once more by his dreadful nightmares. The sounds of whips and chains echoed through his head as he woke up, covered in cold sweat that sent a chill to his bones. His room didn’t have the privilege of any windows, yet Takumi had a feeling it was early in the morning. Only a few servants seemed to be awake, trying to silently shuffle in the halls. The last thing he wanted to do was walk outside and scare the living daylights out of one of the staff.

His back still ached and stung from the previous night. However, Takumi believed that he would survive the day. _As long as_ _they don’t do it again_.

Believing that it was morning, Takumi lit a candle. Having enough light to somewhat read, Takumi settled onto the hard wooden chair provided and opened the book he pulled out from the previous night. The cover was a deep purple, a dyed leather holding together thick pages, tainted a light tea colour. He casually read through the book, being a bookworm and all, he enjoyed reading a good book and feeling the pages between his fingers.

The book was talking about the history of Nohr. Although, it was kind of boring, Takumi found it useful to know what happened on the land he was currently in. After all he needed to find out what their weaknesses were if he was planning to escape. _If he ever did that is_.

The door creaked open and Takumi prepared himself to get thrown back down in the cell he was in before. They were just trying to pull a trick on him. Make him believe that they were going to give him a warm bed before chucking him back into the dungeon he really belonged in. After all he was the enemy kingdom’s prince. Why would they just hand a guest room over to him without it being some stupid mind game to fool him into trusting them?

Instead of the ugly faced Iago that he was expecting to greet him with a twisted grin, the dumb prince who couldn’t dress himself came in. He grumbled something to himself that wasn’t very audible, even for the prince who had keen ears and dragon blood.

“Good morning,” Takumi tried to at least sound polite, unsure whether the greeting sounded forced.

“Looks like someone finally found their manners,” Leo smirked.

“Looks like someone lost theirs,” Takumi countered, causing the older prince to scoff.

“Well, I’m supposed to be your guide now,” Leo explained, as if he wasn’t there when Xander explained it. “So like it or not, you have to deal with me. Manners or not.”

“Shouldn’t I be saying that to you,” Takumi breathed out a short laugh.

“I guess that just means the feelings are mutual,” Leo pointed out.

“I was asked to give you these from Xander,” Leo cleared his throat.

It was only then that Takumi realized the other prince was holding something. If it had been a knife, Takumi would’ve been long gone. He had to make sure he was keeping an observant and close eye on everything now. That was too close.

Leo handed him some Hoshidan clothes, folded neatly.

“You have Hoshidan clothing?” Takumi raised an eyebrow. “Who did you kill?”

This time around Leo let out an airy chuckle. “I assure you, we didn’t kill any Hoshidans.”

“Then why do you have this...in Nohr?” Takumi questioned, taking the clothes from Leo’s outstretched hand hesitantly.

“My father had sent out a few people to get some Hoshidan clothing,” Leo explained, pacing around the room. “Apparently, you’re not worthy enough to wear clothing from Nohr. You will disgrace our country if you did.”

Takumi scoffed, about to yell something back, but stopped himself when he noticed the clothing in his hands. The silk felt familiar. Not just because it was Hoshidan, but for another reason. The silk felt like he had touched it before, spent hours holding it up against a propped up mannequin.

Suddenly it all rushed back so quickly that Takumi had to steady himself by propping his head up with his hands. The countless nights sitting in front of the mannequins. Hinata would try to sew or he would make patterns with the pins on the pin cushion, only to accidentally poke himself, draw a bit of blood and have to bandage it up.

Oboro was the one who forced the two to do it though. She would plead them to stay for ‘a few minutes’ to see her latest works, give her their opinions and help her choose colours and silks. He remembered touching _this_ silk in this colour. She would always laugh sheepishly, saying how she knew he’d choose this one. For hours she would sew. Takumi eventually got tired and fell asleep leaning on the countertop, only to wake up sleeping on the couch.

He missed those days. He _enjoyed_ those days, even though he and Hinata pretended that they were suffering nights in front of Oboro. Yet she even saw through their lies and knew just how much they actually enjoyed them, strangely enough.

The outfit. Takumi remembered Oboro furiously sketching ideas out when they were sitting by a koi pond. She seemed frustrated, unable to find a good style or fabric choice. This lead to Hinata and Takumi throwing in ideas to help her. Some were stupid and some gave her inspiration. After a few weeks, Takumi could still remember, how happy Oboro was after those few weeks. She had done everything. From drawing it out, to picking and finding the material and to making the pattern.

They stayed up all night helping her. Giving her tea when she needed a boost of energy, sitting down with her when she was stressed and helping her put the outfit together in a whole. That very outfit, the one Oboro was so proud of. The one she swore she’d never sell because it was too precious to her. It was in his hands. In his useless and weak hands because some stupid Nohrians bought it from her. From the three of them.

“Takumi?” Leo nudged him. “Are you alright?”

Leo had huffed that last part with a twinge of annoyance. This made Takumi snap his head back up to glare at the other. What the heck? Why was he so annoyed? It wasn’t like he asked for Hoshidan clothing. Especially from his friend’s store.

“I- I’m fine,” Takumi said through gritted teeth. “I’ll change into my new clothing later.”

“Gods, you are so fragile,” Leo sighed in frustration.

“What the-,” Takumi started before Leo raised a hand to cut him off.

“Do you seriously have blood on your back?” Leo pointed, making Takumi turn his head slightly to notice a few red splotches visible on his clothing. _Crap. It did bleed through_.

“What? Did Xander pat you on the back?” Leo asked, moving his hands in exaggeration, “or did that happen when Elise hugged you?”

So that was what this stupid prince meant? He thought that he couldn’t handle all this? That he was too weak to even take a single touch of a Nohrian? This made his blood boil. His desire to punch the prince square in the face grew by the second.

“I stabbed someone okay,” Takumi explained, even doubting himself that Leo would buy that.

“So you got blood on your back?” Leo crossed his arms in disbelief.

“Blood can get _anywhere_ ,” Takumi nervously combed his fingers through his hair.

“Is that what suspects of a crime scene tell the investigator?”

“Y-you shut-” Takumi breathed in and then out in an attempt to calm himself. “Don’t you have dumb prince stuff to attend to?”

Leo paced again around the room as if he was inspecting the room. As if Takumi had a weapon on him. He wished he did, but sadly he never had the time to find one out in the open.

“This _is_ the dumb prince stuff I have to attend to,” Leo sighed as if it was obvious. “And yes, I think this whole situation is very ludicrous.”

“So you’re just going to stand here all day?” Leo continued to walk around, checking every nook and cranny, seemingly avoiding Takumi’s question.

“No of course not,” Leo laughed as if the question was a joke of some sort. “That would be foolish on my part. I _do_ have better things to do.”

“Tch. Like what?” Takumi continued to separate a few small knots in his hair with his fingers.

“Hm. I’ve been studying magic,” Leo grinned. “Some say I’ve already mastered most it. I’d watch my tongue if I were you.”

Takumi wished that he could’ve countered back, but he couldn’t. This prince actually was skilled in something interesting. Takumi didn’t have any weapon he was a master at yet. He had nothing to compare to Leo. He had tried the sword/katana, failing miserably against his brother. Another thing to add to the list of things his own people have held against him. After that he tried the bow. He was actually quite good at it for a beginner. Unfortunately, he just had to get kidnapped before he could train with one more. In Nohr, he highly doubted that they were willing to teach him how to use a weapon that he could potentially kill everyone with.

“So why aren’t you doing that?” Takumi asked, actually curious to know. Why hang out with a weakling like him, if he could train with fire blasts and earth magic?

“Xander had asked me to check on you, making sure everything was okay,” Leo explained, also explaining why he was looking around the room so thoroughly.

“And everything’s fine. You can go do your Mage stuff now,” Takumi went back to his book, turning to the next page despite the fact he hadn’t even finished the pages prior.

“No it’s not fine,” Leo rubbed his temples, impatiently. “You still haven’t explained the blood on your back.”

It hit him. Leo was the prince and he didn’t know about what they were doing to him. He wasn't aware of what they had been planning with him or why they kidnapped him. This also meant that Leo had no clue that he was the second prince of Hoshido. He just thinks that Takumi was some random Hoshidan they captured and he was put in charge of.

“It’s nothing. Have fun with your magic trees.”

“Hey, you have to tell-” Leo was interrupted by a polite knock. Opening the door for her, Leo let in a bashful lady-in-waiting carrying a plate with a loaf of bread. She placed it on Takumi’s desk before curtsying to Leo and scurrying out.

As if he forgot all about the blood, Leo walked over to stand beside the seated younger prince. At first, Takumi believed the food was for Leo and proceeded to ignore him and the small loaf of bread.

“It is your breakfast,” Leo said. “You should eat.”

Turning back to his book hesitantly, Takumi lied, “No thanks. I’m not hungry.”

“Are you seriously afraid that it’s poisoned? Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not that important,” Leo snapped. Takumi couldn’t blame Leo for not knowing how much that had actually hurt him. It felt worse than the whip that scarred him the day before. Because it was true. He wasn’t important.

“I’m just not interested in disgusting Nohrian food,” Takumi pretended to be disinterested, reading the same paragraph over and over again, still not actually reading the words entirely. He had no clue what he was reading, all he saw were letters that his mind didn’t want to decipher.

“You Hoshidans!” Leo huffed. “So fragile and so picky.”

Takumi immediately snapped his eyes away from the book to glare at the taller boy. How dare he say such things about the Hoshidans.

“Fine, I’ll eat a bit,” Takumi gave in, “but only because you insulted Hoshido.”

The younger prince just wanted to be annoying, so he decided to take the tiniest pinch off the piece of bread on the white plate. Putting the tiny crumb in his mouth and eating it Takumi turned to the other prince whose eye was twitching with annoyance. The shorter one knew it was immature of him, but he didn’t care.

“Happy?”

Takumi went back to the book, ignoring the rest of the bread.

“It’s either you eat more bread or I question the blood,” Leo’s face returned to a smug one, having already won the battle,“Your choice.”

Takumi groaned in frustration before taking the piece of bread and biting into it. He wanted to say that he found it disgusting and unbearable, like how he found Nohrians. However, it wasn’t bad bread much to Takumi’s dismay.

After he was done swallowing one bite, he looked at Leo again, “There. I ate more.”

“Hm, you know I still feel very curious about where you got those stains,” Leo taunted, motioning for the silver haired boy to eat more bread.

“You suck,” Takumi grumbled before biting into the bread once more.

He hated how the prince was enjoying this. Having a great time poking at him. But for some reason it was the kind of frustrating moment that you would laugh at and about in the future. It was like spending all night in Oboro’s shop, helping her sew and making tea. Annoying, yet he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Not hungry,” Takumi tried once more. The small piece of bread given to him was halfway done.

“Ok,” Leo suspiciously agreed to his statement. “Don’t forget your manners.”

“I’m not going to forget like you,” Takumi rolled his eyes. “Thank y-krhgjrkdk.”

Leo shoved the bread piece into his mouth.

“I meant how dare you not finish perfectly good food. Do you know how disrespectful and impolite that is? Where are your manners Takumi?” Leo laughed, watching Takumi eat the rest of the bread defeated.

After finally eating all his breakfast, Takumi glared at the laughing prince. Who was he to talk about manners? Would someone with proper manners shove bread into someone else’s mouth?

“Go do your magic now,” Takumi huffed, waving him off teasingly.

“Fine, fine. See you later, Takumi,” Leo began to walk towards the door before stopping.

“Oh pardon me. Where are my manners?” Leo bowed politely.

“Looks like you’ve found them Prince Leo,” Takumi smiled, waving a farewell as Leo smiled back. A genuine smile. A sign of possible friendship.

Takumi just sighed and turned the pages a bit back. _Now he had to read most of it again to jog up his_ _memory_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was that.
> 
> I know that Takumi and Leo's relationship is going pretty fast so far and they're kind of getting a long better, but take note that I did not mention any slow burns or anything like that. I personally am a very impatient author who just wants the fluff to happen already. 
> 
> So in other words, there really isn't that much enemy between them. And I know people are going to comment or yell at me, but remember that a bunch of other fan fictions don't have them hating and at each other's throats in the beginning or for a long time, unless they mentioned it being a slow burn.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the slight bickering...and that bread scene! ;)


	7. Connect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo and Takumi improving their relationship a bit more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here is the next chapter! :)
> 
> It's kind of random in a way, but I believe that these two babies need to have just small interaction chapters once in a while.
> 
> (I'm not sure if the Japanese is correct. Pls correct me if I'm wrong)

  
Leo didn’t expect to be sitting in his chambers, completely ignoring the book in front of him. All he was thinking about was that mysterious blood. He acted like he brushed it off, but in reality he wanted to know.

Where the heck did that come from? Was he injured when they took him or did they injure him themselves when he tried to retaliate? Leo could’ve sworn that there was no blood before.

He sighed, figuring it was best to question if Xander knew of what happened. _Xander knew everything_.

After a long day of practicing his magic, all Leo wanted to do was relax or take a break. Deciding it was best to find a different, more interesting book to read, Leo left his bedroom for one of his favourite places in the castle. The library.

Just imagining the multi colored book shelves, tall and filled to the brim made Leo relax immediately. He still hadn’t reached the goal of reading every book there was, but he still liked to challenge himself, no matter how impossible the task seemed.

As he walked down the light hallway, a door slightly opened, a figure silently stepping out. Leo had recognized which door had opened and the silver haired idiot that stepped out. Did he seriously think that he could escape?

“What are you doing?” Leo asked, freezing the shorter boy in place.

“Do you think you’ll even reach a few meters before being captured by guards?” Leo crossed his arms, staring at the boy who nervously shifted in place.

“Ugh, geez I wasn’t going to do anything stupid,” Takumi sighed, looking around the hallways. “I just wanted to explore a bit and look around. It’s boring being stuck inside a room all day.”

Takumi seemed to take in the different scenery, studying the halls intensely. He seemed to be very interested in the plain stone hallway. Unless he was trying to find an escape route. Leo couldn’t let that happen, not when he was supposed to be watching him.

“You haven’t earned the privileges to roam around the castle freely yet,” Leo pushed Takumi back into his room.

“But Prince Leo-” Takumi collapsed onto his bed after Leo forcefully shoved him into the room.

“Not cool,” He said, voice muffled by the mattress.

Leo noticed that Takumi hadn’t changed out of his blood covered clothing yet. The blood seemed pretty fresh earlier in the morning, obviously it had dried through the course of the day. Noticing that he was staring at his back, Takumi pulled his long silver hair over it, concealing the stains.

 _Touché_.

Leo sat on the hard desk chair, leaving Takumi sitting on the bed.

He really couldn’t blame the other for being bored. There wasn’t much to do in the room. Having no windows was a downside as well. Leo caught the sight of the book Takumi was reading earlier, still open. _Nohrian history, huh?_

“You’re bored right?” Leo wanted to confirm. Takumi nodded, sighing in sad realization.

“Then let’s enlighten one another,” Leo explained, picking up the feather quill in interest. The tip was still shining brand new, unused and untouched. Strange. You would think that Takumi would’ve tried to write something or draw. “What have you learned in the book you’ve been reading?”

“Nothing much,” Takumi answered. “Just a lot about some old guys conquering other kingdoms.”

“Not even the battle techniques are interesting,” the silver haired boy added.

Leo breathed out a laugh, “Sorry if Nohrian history is mainly boring.”

“Mainly?” Takumi exclaimed. “How about entirely?”

Takumi raised his arms in exasperation, flopping back down on the bed.

“But it’ll get interesting eventually,” Leo said, still studying the quill, brushing his palm through the feather bristles. Opening up the ink pot, Leo dipped in the quill and wrote down a simple sentence.

 _The water lilies sat on top of the crystal waters, pink petals shining like opals upon a sea of diamonds_.

Quite proud of his handwriting, Leo didn't even notice that Takumi had moved from the bed to stand beside him, staring curiously at the quill and paper.

“I find calligraphy quite entertaining,” Leo smiled, relaxed. “I don’t see why you haven’t tried doing it through the boring hours.”

Takumi blushed. “I- I don’t know how to use a- a quill.”

“What did you use in Hoshido?” Leo asked, intrigued by this new information.

“Looks like someone needs to read up on their _Hoshidan_ history,” Takumi smiled, brushing some of his hair behind his ear. “We use calligraphy _brushes_.”

Calligraphy brushes? Sounded interesting.

“Would you like me to teach you?” Leo volunteered. “To use a quill.”

“I would like to learn, yes,” Takumi nodded, face still slightly pink. “Would you like to learn how to use a calligraphy brush?”

“Using a brush is quite simple,” Leo pointed out. “I believe that I’ll be just fine.”

“It’s just to repay you for teaching me,” Takumi snorted. “It’s a lot harder than you think.”

“Yeah sure,” Leo rolled his eyes, jokingly. “I’ll teach you one of these boring days.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“Try not to get too bored while waiting,” Leo teased, pondering over the next sentence.

He mentioned water lilies, flowers he only saw in paintings and read about in books. He really had no more knowledge on them other than that.

“What would you find in a water lily pond?” Leo absentmindedly said aloud.

“I’ve seen koi fish in some,” Takumi replied, sitting back on the bed.

“Coy- co,” Leo tried to repeat the word, making Takumi cringe and cover his ears.

“Stop desecrating my kingdom’s language,” he frowned. “Koi fish.”

“How do you spell that?” Leo dipped his quill with a bit of ink, unsure what to write. “C-O-Y?”

“No you idiot, K-O-I,” Takumi corrected him.

“Well I’m sorry if I have a Nohrian tongue,” Leo rolled his eyes. “I would’ve pronounced that as Coh-i or worse.”

“Please don’t,” Takumi laughed. “My ears don’t need be tortured too.”

Too? What did he mean by too? Was something else being tortured?

“Okay, so what colour are they? Blue?” Leo was about to put pen to paper, before Takumi stopped him.

“They vary in colour,” Takumi explained. “Having a white base colour and varying spots. They could be black, bright red or orange.”

“Hm. Maybe if you get good at calligraphy and using a quill you’ll be able to write the sentence,” Leo sighed.

Instead of using the ink to write, Leo drew a tiny swirl at the top right corner. Takumi seemed entertained by this.

“You can draw with these too?”

“Can’t you draw with brushes?” Leo furrowed a brow.

“Right,” Takumi’s cheeks dusted a light pink once again.

“I’d like to learn how to draw with a quill first,” Takumi explained, pointing to the quill.

“Very well,” Leo grinned, placing the quill back down on the table.

His gaze shifted over to the stack of books. He picked up a black one, lined with silver decals. Leo remembered reading this story. It was quite interesting and had left him wondering everyday about the wars the Nohrian army faced or why they were caused in the first place.

“If you want something interesting to read,” Leo started, before placing the book back on the desk, replacing the one that had been opened before. “I recommend this one.”

“I’ll read it, thank you,” Takumi nodded his head politely.

Leo stood up, having to assume what time it was without a window or clock. _Maybe, he’ll give him a small pocket watch in the future. After all it gets really confusing in there_.

“Well, rest well,” Leo bid his farewell, standing up to open the door.

“Oyasuminasai,” Takumi blurted out, before slapping his forehead. “I meant- I meant good night.”

“It’s alright,” Leo chuckled, “I’m fine if you say goodnight in your language.”

Takumi sheepishly smiled as Leo closed the door behind him. Boy, did Leo still have no clue why there was blood, but at least he was getting closer to a reasonable friendship with Takumi. This would make watching over him a lot easier and maybe even less annoying.

He would have to question Xander about it later. While walking down the hall, he passed his little sister’s door. He could’ve sworn that he heard Elise’s voice complaining about a servant giving her another tray of food to Camilla inside. Unsure what to think of it, Leo continued to walk down the dimly lit stone corridors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes. Leo is still a big dum dum. 
> 
> But at least he's becoming more of a friend to Takumi now. And yes, the little tomato will teach him calligraphy (I only know so much about quills. I'm so sorry if I desecrate any calligraphy pros or enthusiasts).
> 
> Side note: Leo is gonna go through so much torture when he tries calligraphy with a brush. And he thought it was simple
> 
> Side side note : I made Takumi good at art. If you're not happy about that...deal with it (jk, don't murder me)


	8. Cut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takumi and his second 'meeting' with Iago (the guy we all secretly or upright want to stab).
> 
>  
> 
> *Also, first appearance of servant boy Silas*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is coming again. The sighs.
> 
> I have a lot of projects due, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post that much. 
> 
> *And the eating problem kind of begins now*
> 
> Well, I hope you found this chapter interesting. Sorry no Leo. Except for that one sentence mentioning him, I think.

  
Takumi knew that he was supposed to eat the lunch and dinner that the servants had brought for him. Just staring at the peculiar food didn’t make him feel any better. The utensils were strange too. He understood that the ‘spoon’ was used to scoop the food, but the ‘fork’ was confusing. You were supposed to stab into your food? Or scoop it? If you did try to scoop the food, wouldn’t it seep through the slits?

When Takumi tried to force himself to pick up the spoon, it dawned over him how he’d probably never get to eat Hoshidan food ever again. All the pastries and dishes that he could never forget. His mother’s jasmine tea and Sakura’s peach pastries. He wasn't ever going to go blow gently on his hot tea, to cool it down slightly before sipping. He wasn’t going to see his siblings’ smiling faces as they sat at the dinner table.

He couldn’t bring himself to even taste a bit of the Nohrian food given to him. Instead he just told the servers he already had lunch and the food was for Elise. He knew he shouldn’t have targeted the princess. Especially since the food given to him wasn’t made for royalty and consisted of a simple serving. But he thought quickly in his mind and her name unfortunately came first.

Of course, he was glad that Leo had been busy with his magic studies and other errands. Luckily, the taller prince had been too busy to check up on him during lunch and dinner. Although, Takumi felt empty and hungry, he didn’t care. He felt empty anyway, with or without food in his stomach.

A tall, kind boy, he believed was named Silas came over to check on him a few times. Apparently the poor boy had fallen in love with a beautiful girl with long light blue hair. He said that she sang more beautifully than the Angels above. However, the way he described her made him feel as if Takumi knew her from somewhere. She was a friend. The name and appearance was so close, yet felt blurred and unreadable.

Silas had come over again, this time he came to lead Takumi to where Iago wanted to meet him.

As they walked down the halls of the castle, Silas continued his story, which to be honest, Takumi was very interested in.

“I believe she’s Hoshidan, since she was by a Hoshidan lake,” Silas explained, smiling at the thought. _Man, he was in love_.

“Why were you by a Hoshidan lake?” Takumi asked, as he nervously followed the other.

“I used to visit Hoshido when things between Hoshido and Nohr weren’t as tense,” Silas replied. “That’s when I first saw her. But now I’m stuck in Nohr and I’ll probably never see her again.”

Takumi wanted to tell him to believe in love or some mushy, sappy cliché stuff. But Takumi was known for being honest, even painfully honest. And the truth was, Takumi highly doubted that they would ever meet again. Unless the second prince somehow remembered who he was forgetting.

“Ah, we’re here,” Silas exclaimed. Takumi seemed to recognize the doors.

As they opened, he soon realized it was the throne room. Inside however, the king sat completely still and silent, almost as if he was sleeping. Iago and his ugly face stood beside him, holding a pair of scissors. Were they going to cut him?

Takumi gulped stepping further into the room. Silas closed the door behind him, nervously smiling at him before the door shut closed.

“Welcome,” Iago sneered. He walked forward, appearing to glide across the floor, scissors in hand. “Nice to meet you again, little prince.”

Takumi nearly shivered as Iago’s eyes pierced through him. He felt the man’s cold, bony fingers grab onto his shoulder.

“It seems your little family needs a bit more persuading,” Iago grinned, sadistically. “How shameful? They didn’t think the blood was evidence enough.”

Iago’s hand moved towards his hair. Slowly, brushing his fingers through it, Iago’s face twisted into a more gleeful smile.

“Such beautiful hair,” Iago whispered into his ear, causing Takumi to slightly flinch. “How sad it is to have to do this huh?”

He expected to be stabbed, cut or sliced. Instead, Iago lifted up a small section of hair. With one swift motion, he snipped. Iago walked in front of the young prince, carrying the cut pieces of hair in his hand. He placed it in a purple pouch before smiling again at him.

“Blame this on your family,” Iago laughed. Takumi was confused. Uncertain of what he meant. Did he mean the cut hair? Or was there more to this meeting?

Iago swiftly, stabbed Takumi in the back with the scissors. The silver haired boy whimpered before falling onto the floor, bleeding. His eyes were seeing red everywhere and he let himself shed a few tears before he was too ashamed of himself to care. Pain shot through his back causing him to wither into a curled ball. He started coughing, without a sign of stopping to let himself breathe.

His lips were suddenly met with a cup of some elixir. Was this to drug him? To cause him to faint? The healer in front of him gave him a small smile. Did they heal him? However, Takumi was still in so much pain and the bleeding hadn’t stopped. Then he realized it was one of the techniques he read in a few books. A healer can prevent the injury from damaging anything important like the lungs or the heart and so on, but the torture and bleeding will continue. Powerful royals used this trick to torture the enemy and so forth.

His shirt was being peeled off once again. The healer had to lift him up to lean against her so she could wrap the bandages and medication on the stab wound. After she completed this, she helped him put his shirt back on. His coughing had stopped and his sudden urge to spit out blood faded as well. Slowly he rose to his feet. How the heck was he going to hide the stains on his back now? There was even a hole from where the scissors had punctured his clothing.

“Good thing we gave you more clothes, young prince. It would be so impolite to walk around covered in blood now wouldn’t it?” Iago placed the scissors in another purple pouch, still covered in blood. “Can’t have that in the Nohrian castle, now can we?”

Takumi tried to walk, but ended up falling back onto the ground from the pain. He crawled over to the door, managing to open it as he could hear Garon’s and Iago’s stupid laughter. They sounded like nails on a chalkboard, making him want to cover his ears and scream. He crawled out, sweat covering his face and closed the door behind him.

“Takumi!” Silas ran forward to help him up, being surprisingly strong. “What did they do to you?”

“I’m fine,” Takumi lied, not answering the other’s question. “I just need to get back to the room.”

“A- Alright,” Silas literally had to drag Takumi to the room, steadying him by slinging the prince’s arm around his shoulders. He obviously could see Takumi’s now bloodied back, but didn’t question it any further. He could put the pieces together himself.

“Do you need my assistance?” Silas asked, concerned.

“No thank you,” Takumi shook his head.

“If you need any help,” the servant boy put a hand on Takumi’s shoulder, “don’t be afraid to tell me.”

“I know,” Takumi managed to smile at the other.

“Get better, Takumi,” Silas pursed his lips together before exiting the room.

He was one of the Nohrians Takumi didn’t mind. A friend that could help him through this nightmare.

It amused Takumi a bit. The fact that Silas seemed to know more than Leo did.

Takumi had to crawl over to the closet to check inside. Sure enough inside the wardrobe were several Hoshidan outfits. They all looked like they came from Oboro’s shop. And they most certainly had.

Takumi picked a simple dark blue one. Not only because it reminded him of Oboro’s hair, but also because he thought that it would've concealed any possible blood stains in the future.

After a few painful minutes, he managed to change. Although he was in immense pain and was 100% certain that he wouldn’t be able to sleep, Takumi felt at least a bit better wearing one of Oboro’s pieces.

It smelled like the tea the three had constantly made to maintain energy. The tea that they all drank when they were too stressed. When they were angry and when they were happy. Takumi smiled, remembering his friends.

Deciding that he couldn’t sleep even if he tried, Takumi managed to hoist himself onto the chair and take a look at the book Leo suggested.

He traced his fingers over the silver decals and opened up the book. It smelled of old pages, like a library. Smiling once again, Takumi read as much as he could, ignoring the stabbing pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I mention to you guys about my stupid head cannons? Well, this chapter showcases one! 
> 
> Basically how Takumi got his precious pineapple short hairs in my story. Yup, it's all Iago's fault! But then again, Takumi looks great with the new partially cut hair anyway! 
> 
> And Silas with his crush on Azura! If you guys are interested I will reveal Azura's backstory for this fan fiction. Also, Takumi did kind of forget Azura for a while. Possibly an effect from getting knocked out in the beginning of the story.
> 
> Well, until the next chapter! <3


	9. Consideration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hoshidan siblings and how they seem to be coping with Takumi's kidnapping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER HOSHIDAN CHAPTER!!!!
> 
> (I feel pretty bad because I believe the next Hoshidan chapter is like the 17th... Unless I add a few in between the ones I've already written)
> 
> But anyway, I'm really glad I had the time to post this. My week is pretty busy, so I'm just so grateful that I had enough spare time today to give you guys this chapter!
> 
> Hope you like it!

  
The first thing they received was a white satin cloth. It was adorned with dried blood. If not for the tiny small sections of white, they would’ve believed that it was just a simple red piece of fabric, for it was drenched in blood. The short, discreet note explained that the blood belonged to no other than the second prince of Hoshido.

It horrified everyone. Sakura ran into her room and cried for hours. Corrin kept staring out the window as if Takumi would come running back. Hinoka trained with a naginata in the training yard using her anger and sadness to annihilate every training dummy in her sights. Ryoma sat staring at the calligraphy brushes, books and shogi board in front of him.

All those things reminded him of his brother. His brother that was taken away from them. With a heavy sigh, Ryoma stood up and left the room, unable to stand a sight of those things. His father hadn’t ordered anything and he hadn’t said anything either after witnessing the blood. And even if he was supposed to be the obedient high prince of Hoshido, he couldn’t stand the way his father had acted.

It hurt him to know that Takumi was still stuck in Nohr because his father didn’t seem to care enough about him. It made Ryoma angry how his father was sitting and waiting to come up with a plan while Takumi was probably rotting in a prison cell. But it hurt Ryoma the most knowing that this was all his fault.

After they had found out what the Nohrian King had done, Hinoka had trained vigorously. Her retainers had to drag her out of the training yard once when it was raining, fearing she’d get sick. Although she did, Hinoka continue to train and train, determined to destroy the Nohrian army singlehandedly if she needed to to get her younger brother back.

Corrin became so filled with anger she had transformed into a dragon amazing and frightening everyone. A dear friend of theirs and worker in the castle Azura managed to calm her down before she could cause more destruction. She was given a dragon stone in order to control her powers. Some days, people would see a dragon fighting in the training area as well.

Even though this unfortunate event had been bestowed upon them, he was glad and thankful that they all stayed as the same people. Corrin’s laugh always filled the castle halls, Sakura played her koto beautifully and shyly thanked the servants and Hinoka remained the same warrior like princess.

They were all so eager and determined to bring their brother back. However, their father hadn’t made any calls yet. He hadn’t ordered anything to commence, for fear of starting an all out war with Nohr. Nohr was the kingdom known for conquering others. Although Hoshido was strong, Nohr was still a big threat, especially since they had captured the second prince.

}}}---------------------------]}

“Lord Takumi!” Hinata ran in the castle halls, joyfully. “Lord Takumi! You’ll never believe what happened!”

“Hinata! You idiot, stop running in the halls!” Oboro yelled, following her idiotic friend as they searched the castle for Takumi.

Azura had met with them earlier, saying that she was heading to the lake. The lake she went to all the time.

Hinata wanted to announce to Takumi that Oboro’s parents were upgrading their shop. This time they were going to have two floors stocked with clothing. Obviously this made Oboro extremely excited and giddy, but she still couldn’t believe how happy Hinata was for her. It made her feel something exhilarating inside. It made her feel happy.

“Lord Takumi?” Hinata poked his head from room to room before finally stopping to turn to Oboro. “Strange, I can’t find him anywhere.”

“Let’s just ask one of his siblings where he is,” Oboro grabbed Hinata and dragged him to where Corrin was picking peaches. She seemed stressed out about something as if picking peaches would calm her down a bit.

“Hey, Lady Corrin!” Hinata smiled brightly at her earning a cheerful smile back.

“Why hello, Hinata,” Corrin placed a few more ripe peaches into a small hand woven basket. “And of course, Oboro.”

“By the way,” Corrin squealed. “Your store is absolutely amazing. I’m so happy for you and your family.”

Oboro blushed and crossed her arms knowingly. “Thank you Lady Corrin. Work in the clothing field runs in my family and blood.”

“Oh please, how many times do I have to insist you call me Corrin,” the white haired girl inspected a few more peaches before deciding she was done for the day.

“Oboro is like a wizard with fabrics,” Hinata boasted, grinning. “I swear she can design the most beautiful kimonos and silk robes I have ever seen.”

“Stop it! Hinata, you don’t know what you’re-” Oboro stopped mid sentence in realization. “Oh, um. Thank you, Hinata.”

“You can’t deny it’s true though,” Hinata laughed, patting his friend’s shoulder.

Corrin smiled at the two, wondering if there were any other feelings lingering in the air for the two. Like love per say? Corrin shook her head, laughing silently to herself. She had no time to play match maker.

“So, Lady- I mean Corrin,” Oboro said. “Where is Lord Takumi?”

“Takumi?” Corrin looked like she had just witnessed a Pegasus die. A wounded one, crying in pain as it died, suffering in the meadows.

She dropped the basket full of peaches, probably bruising a few before she placed both hands on the two’s shoulders. “No one told you yet?”

“Told us what?” Hinata breathed, in fear of what he was about to hear.

“Takumi was taken captive by,” Corrin bit her lip nervously, trying to stop herself from crying again. “By Nohr.”

They were all silent for a few suffering seconds before Oboro tensed up.

“Nohr?” Oboro glared at the ground, eyes watering. “Stupid, useless Nohrian scum!”

“Oboro, calm down,” Hinata said quietly, softening the fuming and crying girl.

“I’m sorry Corrin,” Oboro wiped her eyes and grabbed Hinata’s wrist tightly. “Let’s go Hinata!”

The two ran off, both clearly upset. Corrin’s heart broke knowing that she was the unfortunate soul who had to break the news to Takumi’s best friends. At least she didn’t mention him getting tortured. She didn’t believe the two could handle that much pain in one day. They both looked like someone had punched them both in the face. Like someone really strong. Heck, they looked like freaking Ryoma punched them in the face.

Picking up the peaches, Corrin sighed and headed towards the kitchen. Hopefully the staff could use what was left of them.

}}}---------------------------]}

One night, Corrin and Ryoma had been cleaning up the training yard when they saw someone trying to leave the castle grounds on a Pegasus. The two soon realized that it was Hinoka and before she could even get on, they had stopped her.

“I have to,” Hinoka vowed, speaking through gritted teeth. “I’ll bring him back no matter what.”

“Hinoka, listen to yourself,” Ryoma sighed, “You can’t face a wave of Nohrian soldiers by yourself.”

“I’ve been training for this moment,” Hinoka exclaimed, hoisting herself onto the white Pegasus.

“Hinoka, no!” Corrin cried, startling the others. “What would happen to us if you died trying? We can’t lose you and Takumi. Not to Nohrian hands.”

“You guys don’t understand,” Hinoka said, tears beginning to fall from her orange eyes. “You won’t understand.”

“Of course we will,” Corrin said quietly. “Hinoka we’re all upset about this. I turned into a freaking dragon!”

“I saw the blood,” Hinoka grimaced. “It may have seemed like a small amount on that cloth, but it had obviously been taken sample from a much bigger source of it.”

The cloth that had been stained with their brother’s blood had left them all wondering.

“Maybe it isn’t his,” Ryoma pointed out. “It could be anyone’s really. They could just be trying to tempt us into causing a full on war against both kingdoms.”

“Ryoma could be right, Hinoka,” Corrin breathed. “It’s not necessarily Takumi’s blood.”

After a few moments to ponder over it, Hinoka huffed in frustration.

“Fine!” Hinoka sighed, jumping off her Pegasus. “But if we find out that it’s his blood, then I’ll take the Nohrian king’s head.”

Ryoma seemed relieved with the fact that at least his younger sister wouldn’t head out by herself.

}}}----------------------------|}

Relief soon turned into anger and worry once again. After what felt like forever waiting for his father’s plan, a new package was given to them. Inside were two purple pouches and a letter. Sakura had opened the first, nervously peering inside before dropping the bag and covering her mouth. She looked like she wanted to throw up.

Corrin picked up the bag she had dropped and pulled out what was inside. To all their horror, Corrin held out a pair of silver scissors. Blood was covering the blades, sticky and dry. Corrin was pale, completely speechless. Never wanting to see the horrifying sight again, Corrin dropped the scissors back into the pouch, holding the urge to turn into a dragon and storm Nohr’s castle.

“Guys,” Hinoka whispered. They all turned to her, who was holding the second bag.

“Hinoka, if you want me to open it, I will,” Ryoma volunteered, but Hinoka shook her head, a look of determination.

She opened it and put her hand inside.

“I feel something soft,” Hinoka looked at all her siblings, fearing that it would be another cloth stained red. She pulled out long silver hair, tied together with a purple ribbon, clipped with the Nohrian crest.

“T- Takumi,” Sakura murmured staring at the hair. It was undeniably their brothers. No one else had owned silver hair like his, and if someone did, it wasn’t as long as their brother’s. And now, the blood had to be his. The king wouldn’t spill any Nohrian blood just to taunt Hoshido. They were using the real deal, making the waiting game seem riskier and riskier by the day.

“I-I’ll kill them!” Hinoka exclaimed angrily before dropping the pouch and hair on the floor and storming off.

“Hinoka! W- Wait!” Sakura ran after her sister, attempting to calm her down or stop her from doing anything impulsive.

“Brother,” Corrin called to Ryoma. “I don’t know what to do or _how_ to feel. When will father do something?”

“He will eventually,” Ryoma lied, hoping Corrin wouldn’t realize he was. “For now we shall wait. But I assure you sister, that father will bring Takumi home.”

Ryoma was sure of that. In the chaotic situation they were all thrown in, he wasn’t sure of a lot of things. But he trusted his father enough to see him capable of completing that task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Corrin and her pro matchmaking skills! <3
> 
> Hinoka's determination inspires me to do something important in life. (Just me? Okay)
> 
> Well that was that. A chapter about what happens in Hoshido (with Oboro and Hinata's first appearance and servant Azura mentioned).
> 
> See you guys later! (Well I can't actually see you guys, but you know what I mean)


	10. Coiffeur and Coiffeuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takumi (against his will) is used to test out a few of hairstyles Elise learned from Camilla.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I know that I really should be working on my school work, but as I was rereading everything and editing, I couldn't wait to post this chapter and all the others after it. So here you go!
> 
> Also Elise bonds a bit more with Pineapple (I think...)
> 
> Et oui, je sais que c'est 'le Coiffeur et la Coiffeuse' Mais qui a le temps pour ça?

  
“Please?” Elise pleaded, eyes growing big and lip quivering.

“No!” Takumi sighed in frustration, trying to ignore the princess.

“But it’s long and soft!” Elise exclaimed. “And silver!”

“You have long hair,” Takumi pointed out. “Style your own.”

“It’s not that easy or as fun,” Elise explained, laughing. “I only want to try a few hairstyles.”

“Why can’t you try it on Princess Camilla?” Takumi asked, unwilling to sell his soul to this little girl.

“Her hair isn’t straight and it’s too wavy,” Elise patted her blonde hair. “My hair isn’t as wavy as hers, so it won’t be as accurate.”

“Isn’t mine not wavy enough?”

“No it’ll be good enough,” Elise jumped around, hopefully.

“You just want to see me in different hairstyles don’t you?” Takumi groaned, pressing his head onto the desk in front of him.

Thanks to her, he didn’t eat his breakfast. Not like he was going to anyway. Though having no food in his stomach for so many days was really taking a toll on him. Sighing, he hoped that Elise would get distracted by something else and leave him alone.

The door suddenly opened, Leo entering. Well _Prince_ Leo.

“Elise, what are you doing?” Leo raised an eyebrow, knowing that his younger sister was annoying Takumi.

“I want to style Takumi’s pretty hair!” Elise smiled, clapping her hands together. “Don’t you think it will be fun, Leo?”

Takumi was praying. He was praying to the universe. To the lords. To the magic that existed in the world, that Leo would just laugh and call the mere thought of it stupid. Or pointless. That Leo would drag Elise out and tell her that Takumi needed a break. But of course that didn’t happen.

“I think it would be interesting,” Leo had that smug smile on his face, staring back at Takumi’s shocked one.

“Prince Leo, I-” Takumi started.

“You don’t want to be cooped up in your room all day. Remember?” Leo explained, not making Takumi feel bad for wanting to kick the guy in the face. “You don’t hate Elise either. It’s just a few hairstyles that Camilla taught her.”

“Fine! But cut it and I’ll strangle you with every last hair ribbon you own,” Takumi faked a smile and let them drag him into Elise’s room, which was much better than his by far.

Leo had found this situation quite amusing. He also took note that a few days ago the Hoshidan was wearing a different outfit. It wasn’t the one he gave him earlier, but it did mean that either Takumi’s clothes were getting dirty or he was trying to hide the fact that there were suspicious blood stains. The shorter male sat in front of the vanity and sighed, resting his head on his hand, elbow placed on the vanity’s desktop.

Elise laughed happily and started to pull out things like ribbons and brushes, and hair clips and bows. Takumi looked at the hair accessories with hatred and slight nervousness. What were they going to do to him?

Leo tilted his head in curiousity. He never really did see any male with hair as long as Takumi’s. Or even in that hair colour. It interested him and fascinated him. Was this common in Hoshidan culture?

“Leo! Come help me!” Elise looked over to her brother.

“I don’t know how to braid or style hair,” Leo explained, embarrassed for some reason by this fact. It wasn’t like he had long hair to braid. It wasn’t like he needed to know how to. Despite these facts, Leo still felt oddly embarrassed.

“Don’t worry!” Elise cheerily smiled. “You can help me brush!”

Leo picked up one of his sister's new black brushes. As Elise began to braid some of his hair, Leo been to comb through some. It was surprisingly relaxing, combing through the silky strands. It truly did feel as soft and silky as it looked. Leo couldn’t help but experiment and ran his fingers through the other’s long hair, getting rid of tiny knots.

He expected Takumi to have freaked out. Leo noticed that the other had closed his eyes though, unbeknownst to what they were doing. The shorter boy seemed really tired. Was he getting enough sleep?

As he combed through the silver strands, he recalled talking with Takumi over things they enjoyed. And they surprisingly had a lot in common. After finding out that Takumi enjoyed reading as much as he did, Leo knew that he would have to show him the library one day. Until then, they just talked about recommendations of stories and so on. Leo mentioned how he enjoyed the game chess, which Takumi wanted to learn how to play, also mentioning a similar game Shogi.

The two had talked for so long that Leo didn’t realize how late it had been. That was probably why Takumi was so tired. Leo felt a tinge of guilt for making him stay up so late. However, the two seemed to chat forever, almost as if Takumi didn’t want him to go.

Takumi felt calmer and more relaxed sitting in the chair. He really didn’t care at this point on what they were doing. More or less, it felt fine and didn’t hurt or feel weird as they combed his hair and tugged on it gently. This calming sensation did make him feel extremely tired though, but he couldn’t just go to sleep there. So Takumi just pretended to close his eyes as a natural habit, though it wasn't really going to fool anyone.

As Leo reached for another section of hair, he noticed something. A few strands were cut shorter than the rest. Confused, Leo almost stopped brushing entirely causing Elise to look at him. He snapped out of it and continued to brush a section for her but remained confused.

Even if he didn’t want to admit it, Leo had stared at Takumi’s hair a bit too much. He knew that there weren’t any short strands of hair before. Blood stains and now this? Leo really needed to confront Xander.

Elise finally told him to stop brushing so she could work with the rest of the hair. Leo pulled a chair over and sat next to Takumi.

“Tired?” Leo asked, unintentionally saying it right into the other boy’s ear.

“W- What? No!” Takumi jumped slightly, eyes snapping open.

Elise began to tie a few red ribbons in his hair, amazed by her own handy work.

“Well, then I apologize for keeping you up so late last night,” Leo said actually sincerely which shocked himself as well.

“It doesn’t matter,” Takumi nervously laughed, “it’s not like I could’ve slept anyway.”

“Takumi-”

“Done! Ta da!” Elise clapped her hands, jumping up and down. “Camilla would be so happy! It’s not as pretty as when she does it though!”

Elise gasped in realization, “Maybe she can-”

“No,” Takumi said quickly. No more hairstyling. Although he said no, he highly doubted that Elise would really listen to his voiced opinion on the matter. His hair was going to be styled by everyone now, wasn't it?

Takumi had been so busy talking with Leo and resting not so secretly for a bit that he hadn’t really stared at himself in the mirror yet. He was completely shocked with his appearance though. His hair had been braided into a long side braid with tinier knots and loops merging into it. A red ribbon tied it off and to be honest Elise did a great job at styling hair.

His short strand of hair was not so subtly tucked behind his ear though.

“What do you think?” Elise beamed.

“I think it looks,” Takumi took a deep breath. “It looks nice...I guess.”

“I think you look absolutely fantastic!” Elise gave a cheeky smile. “What do you think Leo?”

Of course, the other prince as going to laugh at him or better yet tease him about his long hair. Takumi had a better chance of escaping than Leo complimenting his appearance. Takumi could already hear the words-

“You look pretty,” Leo blurted out causing Takumi to blush, before the blonde cleared his throat, “I mean silly. You look foolish.”

Elise pouted at her brother’s changed response. But the bubbly little girl almost immediately smiled once more. As for Takumi, he wasn’t sure what to think after that, but turned his attention back to the happy blonde princess.

“Let’s show the others,” Elise squealed again, nearly breaking Takumi’s ear drums.

“Others?” Takumi groaned. “I thought this was just between the three of us.”

“C'mon Takumi,” Leo teased. “If you don’t stand up now, I will unfortunately have to ask about that cut hair strand.”

Takumi immediately stood up, again being extremely obvious to his wanting for the blood stains and cut hair to remain a secret. At least for now. Takumi didn’t want to face the humiliation of being so weak that he got himself tortured. He didn’t want Leo to laugh at him and join with Iago and his father. To watch him get tortured with pleasure because he was a Hoshidan in Nohrian territory.

“Let’s go show the others,” Takumi sighed in defeat.

“Yay!” Elise pulled Takumi out of the room, running across the halls. He had to wince in pain again, since the stab wound was preventing him from keeping up with her easily.

“SILAS!” Elise yelled across the hallway to the servant boy.

“Princess Elise, Prince Leo and…” Silas tilted his head in confusion, “...Takumi?”

“Don’t you like his hair?” Elise pointed to the braid.

“Yes, it looks quite good on him,” Silas smiled and swiftly managed to move out of the way before Elise could run him over, dragging Takumi to find Xander.

Leo walked calmly behind them. He couldn’t help but feel so stupid. _You look pretty?_ What on earth was he thinking? He really needed to either take a break in the library later or practice his magic. He had to admit the other boy did look beautiful with that hairstyle, but it was Leo’s idiocy that made him admit it out loud. Hopefully, he’ll forget about that. Leo would’ve never thought it before, but he actually quite enjoyed Takumi’s presence and company. And he thought that they were becoming friends or already friends.

It felt odd to think that. Especially since he still didn’t know all that much about the Hoshidan boy. He needed to get to know him a bit more though, reminding him to start asking more questions. Maybe about his family and friends? Or was that way too inconsiderate? Leo had to remember that Takumi was taken away from his loved ones. He couldn’t just straight up ask about them. Leo just needed to earn his trust enough to learn about them.

“I don’t understand why you did this sister,” Xander replied, simply.

“What? I did it because I knew he would look amazing!” Elise pouted, but instantly went back to a cheeky smile. “I know! Let’s find Camilla! She’ll love this!”

“Wait agh!” Takumi was being lead out of another room once more.

Leo decided that since he was in Xander’s room, he might as well ask him about it.

Xander sighed heavily, “Oh, Elise. At this rate you’ll never be prepared for your duties as a princess of Nohr.”

Leo cleared his throat, creating more tension to form in the air that Leo hadn’t even realized was so tense in the first place. Xander smiled at Leo again.

“Hello brother,” Leo politely greeted. “I have more information to discuss with you.”

“I see,” Xander stood up, reminding Leo how tall his older brother was. “Continue.”

“As Takumi’s guide and the one who is checking on him,” Leo explained. “I did notice a few changes in him. The back of his clothing was stained with blood once and a small section of his hair was cut short.”

“Leo, I assure you that Takumi is fine,” Xander placed a firm hand on the shorter male’s shoulder. “He probably got a bit injured when he was taken captive. And Elise did mention that she wanted to play with his hair a while ago, she probably got carried away and cut some off.”

“I don’t recall seeing blood before,” Leo continued. “And I was with Elise when she was styling his hair.”

His older brother seemed slightly taken aback. However, he gained his composure back almost instantly, making Leo wonder if it was just a figment of his imagination.

“Brother, the halls are always dark in Nohr. You probably didn’t notice the blood before,” Xander explained. “And Elise probably went to Takumi’s room before you. She might have wanted to try something out first and cut his hair.”

“But-”

“I would love to chat more, Leo,” Xander walked towards his door. “But, as you know I have sword training to attend to.”

Xander’s silhouette slowly vanished from Leo’s field of view, his footsteps distant. He wanted to believe his older brother. He really did. But it just didn’t add up. He lived in the Nohrian castle all his life. His eyes had long adapted to the dark. He wouldn’t have missed that blood. Plus, knowing Takumi he would’ve complained about Elise cutting his hair if she did.

If Takumi just got injured during his kidnapping, why would he want to hide that fact so badly? In a matter of fact, why did Xander want to hide what he knew so badly? His own brother wasn’t even telling him what he knew of the King’s plans.

Leo walked down the halls, his own footsteps echoing. He was going to find out what was going on even if he had to pry it out of the silver haired boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leo's slip up makes me crack a smile all the time! :)
> 
> I decided to make Elise good at hairstyling because it seemed like something a 'lady' should know. Seeing that everyone keeps trying to tell Elise to learn more polite and lady like things, I thought Camilla would teach her to style hair.
> 
> The next chapters are the ones I'm most excited to share, but my week again is pretty packed. :(
> 
> The excitement got the best of me today though, so you guys got this chapter! :)


	11. Calligraphy (Coma)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calligraphy : Takumi learns to use a quill, thanks to the amazing teacher Leo! He wants to practice until he can draw to his hearts content.
> 
> Coma : The results of lack of sleep and food hits Takumi like a hurricane. However, a certain someone might be able to save him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hyped on coffee in the middle of the night... So here you go! My school projects for THIS week were finally finished! Yay! Guess I have Astra on schoolwork as well since I finished faster than I thought I would've...
> 
> Anyway, here is a think a decently long chapter...
> 
> Hope you find it interesting!

  
Takumi stared at the quill in front of him with curiosity and confusion. How did these things work? The metal tip at the end was still glistening in the light, indicating how the quill was brand new.

“You have to hold it on the metal handle,” Leo instructed. “Just like holding a brush I assume.”

Takumi followed Leo’s instructions, occasionally dropping the quill and catching it before it hit the ground. Leo ended up having to grab his hand and help him hold it.

“Like that,” Leo smiled, picking up his own quill expertly. Takumi blushed and waited for Leo to continue.

Takumi couldn’t believe he was saying it, but his friendship with Leo was actually growing stronger. A few days had passed and the two had hung out with each other very often. At one point, Leo even told Takumi to call him ‘Leo’ instead of Prince Leo. This made Takumi slightly happy, since his friend didn’t know that he was of royal blood as well, he was always just called Takumi.

“Dip the quill only up to this level,” Leo demonstrated with his quill and waited for Takumi to follow. He actually managed to do it first try, which was relieving and satisfying.

“When you’re writing with it,” Leo put quill to paper, writing a few letters with ease. “You can change the thickness by adding more pressure or less pressure or using different parts of the tip.”

Leo continued to show different line widths and thicknesses, explaining that while drawing with a quill that applies as well. Takumi drew a thin line at first and slowly added pressure.

“Don’t add an extreme amount of pressure though,” Leo continued. “In other words don’t break the quill.”

Takumi nodded his head and continue to practice drawing lines.

“How long does the ink take to dry?” Takumi asked, curving a few to experiment.

“Usually a few hours,” Leo explained, “but some inks only take a few minutes. I find those inks far more easy to use and more efficient.”

“So which ink are we using?” Takumi looked at Leo.

“We’re using the ink that takes hours to dry unfortunately,” Leo sighed, writing a few more letters down, each looking beautiful and elegant.

“I’ll try and find some more ink if you’d like,” he added.

“No, it’s alright,” Takumi smiled. “No need for you to go through the trouble for me.”

“Alright,” Leo sat closer to Takumi, glancing at the random line strokes.

“Let’s teach you how to write.”

“If I do recall correctly,” Takumi laughed. “I did ask to learn how to draw first.”

“Yes, but drawing is truly simple,” Leo pointed out. “Learning to write is complex and will help you with your drawing.”

“Ok, whatever you say,” Takumi shrugged and dipped the quill with a bit more ink.

After showing Takumi pretty much the whole entire alphabet, Leo drew a happy face at the end just to prove his point.

“By practicing drawing letters, it helped me draw this happy face,” Leo glanced at the other only to find him holding in his laughter.

“That’s the weirdest looking happy face I have ever seen,” Takumi covered his mouth with his hands, in attempt to conceal his laughter.

All Leo did however was glare at the other boy, unimpressed. Takumi cleared his throat and straightened up, “I mean, your drawing was- who am I kidding? It looks terrible.”

Leo sighed, chuckling a bit himself.

“Okay, okay,” Leo scratched his head, nearly shoving his headband off. “Enough about my ugly drawings. How come you want to learn how to draw with a quill so badly?”

“I probably won’t be going back to Hoshido in a long while,” Takumi pushed more hair behind his ear, making Leo notice the hair cut shorter once again, “so while everything is still fresh in my mind, I wanted to draw some things out that I wanted to remember.”

“Oh,” Leo breathed. “I apologize for acting out of line if I did.”

“It’s fine,” Takumi blurted out, “you weren’t rude or anything. I actually appreciate you for trying to teach me calligraphy. I’ll practice and work on it.”

“That’s good to hear,” Leo smiled again, placing the quill down. “You probably aren’t aware of this, but I believe you are allowed to leave this room with an escort now.”

“Really?” Takumi beamed, immediately blushing at his excited reaction. “That’s good to know. Besides that one time Elise dragged me everywhere to show my hairstyle, I haven't really explored the castle.”

“I know,” Leo said. “That is why, as your guide and friend, I would like to show you around someday.”

“Thank you,” Takumi placed a hand on Leo’s, catching him off guard for a few seconds. He pulled away afterwards though noticing how sudden his actions were, though Leo still felt his touch lingering on his pale skin. “For all of this.”

“You see,” Leo placed his hand on Takumi’s this time around. “We Nohrians don’t treat you so poorly after all.”

Something flickered in the boy’s amber eyes. _Sadness_. And after that Leo immediately regretted what he said. Takumi’s expression changed back though to one of joy.

“Yeah, I guess I was wrong back then,” Takumi breathed out a small laugh.

Takumi looked back at his friend. His brown eyes were filled with warmth, signaling his joy. There it was again. A genuine, friendly smile. It made Takumi automatically happy whenever he saw it.

“Your headband is going to fall, stupid.”

Takumi reached up, kneeling on his knees and fixed it, placing it perfectly back onto the blonde’s head. His hair was neatly combed, which Takumi found hilarious since the prince’s clothes were usually inside out or looked like he had put them on in the dark. The fact that he actually had time to comb his hair amazed the other boy.

“Why do you wear one anyway?” Takumi asked, sitting back down.

“Hm?” Leo glanced at Takumi, missing the feeling of the other’s hand in his own. “It was a gift from Elise. I used to despise it, but found it quite helpful when I was training with magic and reading. It keeps my hair out of my face… Most of the time.”

Takumi pushed his hair back over his shoulder as some fell loose from behind his ear. He noticed how Leo was staring at the shorter section, making him hide it by pushing it behind his ear again.

“I think you look quite nice with it on,” Takumi commented. He could’ve sworn he saw the other blush, but believed it was just the lighting in the room when he blinked and Leo’s skin was still as pale as it was before.

}}}-------------------------|} (Coma)

Takumi wished that Leo had left before lunch. He really enjoyed spending time with the other prince surprisingly, but he hadn’t eaten anything for quite sometime, aside from a few bites of food when Silas came by. He did feel woozy sometimes from the lack of food and sleep, but he still couldn’t help but not eat the food offered to him. He knew it was bad and he knew it was a waste of food, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He couldn’t eat a bit of their food without wanting to throw up or bite his tongue. Takumi just wished with all his might that someone could help him. He had always wished that. He wished that people would just help him, not tell him to do it because Ryoma could or tell him not to be a baby because Hinoka could do it first try. He wanted someone to talk to him. To show him that it was okay to be afraid sometimes.

The knock came and so did the servant carrying some food. What Takumi didn’t expect was for there to be two trays. One for Leo and one for him. Was Leo seriously going to eat lunch with him?

“If you don’t mind, I asked the kitchen staff to bring my lunch here,” Leo explained. “I thought that this calligraphy lesson would’ve taken longer.”

“If you’d like to eat in privacy, then I can leave,” Leo looked at the other for an answer.

_No, stay. Stay_.

“I would like that,” Takumi said, quietly. His mouth was betraying his mind. He wanted Leo to stay. Find out what was wrong and yell at him for being stupid. For being picky. For being a stubborn fool.

“We’ll continue this later,” Leo smiled before picking up his tray and leaving the room quietly. And more than anything, Takumi wanted to yell for Leo to come back, but the words died in his throat.

He felt so useless against absolutely nothing. Nothing was fighting him, yet he felt like surrendering to a battle that wasn’t happening. Feeling weak and tired, Takumi placed the tray on his desk.

_Tired_. He felt so tired. Takumi’s legs gave in and he stumbled onto the floor. His eyelids were growing heavy. He felt so cold too. Just like the first day he was there. He was shivering and weak. The Hoshidan Prince that no one asked for or wanted. He was too weak and tired to cry, to feel angry or even to feel upset.

It felt like he was sitting there for hours. He probably had been. Just sitting, looking lifeless on the floor, shivering.

He coughed, hacking on the floor. He was drowsy and he could literally feel the colour drain from his face.

It was at that moment Takumi really accepted how weak he was. His kingdom saw it before even he could. He was the dainty prince who wasn’t as glorious as his other siblings. Everyone loved them, cherished them. Maybe he deserved to feel cold and helpless. He was always left in the dark and shadows, he should’ve been used to the cold by then. But the world wanted him to suffer. The world laughed at his misery. He wasn’t anything but a joke to Nohr, to Hoshido, to his family and to Leo.

He could picture the disappointment in Ryoma’s grey eyes. Then again, he should’ve been used to everyone’s disappointment towards him. He was always the prince that tried, but only failed. It was like he had to be the failure so his other siblings would look better or accomplish something so small but get praised so much.

The cold prickled at his skin, like the needle Hinata used to stab into the pin cushion. Takumi couldn’t help but want to laugh. To laugh at his own stupidity and his foolishness. His two friends would also be quite upset with him if they saw him in this state.

The idiotic child who couldn’t even stomach food generously given to him because of- what? His head started to ache and hurt, like thinking his own thoughts was too much for his body to bear. He did this to himself. If only he just eaten. If only he just slept.

Everyone’s voices filled his head. They were all scolding him. Yelling at him.

_Takumi, I’m disappointed in you._

_Why would you do this to yourself?_

_Lord Takumi? This isn’t good for your health!_

_Why did the second prince have to be such a burden?_

_Pathetic, as I thought._

_Takumi, are you even listening?_

_Takumi_

_Takumi!_

_Takumi!_

_Takumi, Takumi, Takumi-_

They were all laughing, smiling, and yelling at him. He never knew that even his own name sounded like a curse said over and over again.

“Takumi!” Leo knelt down beside him and it was only then that the universe decided to end his suffering. His vision was blurring and clearing again.

“Are you alright? What happened?”

“T- Tired,” Takumi began to sway even though he was leaning against the cold wall. “I…f- feel s...so tired.”

“Hang in there,” Leo pleaded, almost sounding desperate. Takumi’s hearing was probably messed up as well.

He grabbed onto his hands. Leo’s hands felt warm. Or warm compared to the cold wall.

“Your hands are so cold,” Leo whispered,mumbling to himself.

“I- I’m c- cold,” Takumi coughed, falling forward. Leo caught him, holding onto him tightly.

Black spots covered his vision and he felt his consciousness slip away. The last thing he felt was a hand holding his and a warm blanket being wrapped around him. Then he only saw black. The black that haunted his nightmares. The black that would consume him every night in his dreams, only for monsters and chains to wrap around him and claw at him. Red eyes glowed at him, ordering for more blood. He would be thrown in a bird cage locked away forever, scarred by the sound of everyone’s laughter. What once sounded so joyous and peaceful, now filled with taunting and mockery.

Yet this black was safe. He didn’t feel alone. He felt as if someone was with him. Protecting him.

}}}--------------------------|}

Leo had wrapped his friend in a blanket before picking him up and rushing out of the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the tray, still full of food left untouched. He knew where the medics were and didn’t care the slightest if the boy he was carrying was Hoshidan. He was his friend and he was going to save him. He was going to save Takumi.

He rushed through the halls, searching for the familiar entrance. Carrying the shorter one was a lot easier than he had thought, much to his relief. It was like all those times he had carried Elise.

Takumi had felt so cold and looked so pale, like all the energy he had was drained out of him. Leo had only come back to help put away the calligraphy equipment, not wanting to be rude. However, he didn’t expect to find Takumi on the floor, appearing half dead. Leo was hoping that he was alright and when he went into a coughing fit, it scared Leo to bits. But he wasn’t as terrified and scared as he was when Takumi had fainted in his arms.

He didn’t want to admit it, especially since Takumi was a Hoshidan and a hostage, but he liked him as a friend. He wasn’t like Niles. He was different. In a good way of course. He felt like a friend he could talk to all the time. Sometimes, Niles would get on his nerves, causing Leo to want to have a nice quiet time alone in the library. But when Takumi got on his nerves, he wouldn’t feel as annoyed for some reason. Instead of storming out, he wanted to stay.

He should’ve stayed. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if he did.

Finally, Leo made it to his destination, seeing two familiar faces.

“Hi, Leo!” Elise giggled before gasping. “What happened?”

“What did they do to Takumi _this_ time?” Silas gasped.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Silas cleared his throat. “We should get him to the healers now.”

The three found a healer who quickly began to work on something. She was quick on her feet and seemed to remember remedies and medicine by heart. The creepy thing was that she seemed familiar with Takumi, as if she healed him before. She made him drink something and told us to leave the room temporarily till she was done.

What did Silas mean by this time? What did he mean by they? Leo was so sick about questioning everything. Every little action and every little word. He was tired of trying to get answers to his unheard questions. He was tired of second guessing himself and asking people who would just avoid what he said.

He was going to get answers from Takumi.

After an hour or so, Leo was let in. Silas was sent to do some stable work and Leo convinced Elise to play with Camilla for the time being. He didn’t want to see his little sister so worried.

Takumi was still unconscious. The blankets were still placed over him and colour seemed to return to his face. His silver hair was sprawled all over the pillow his head laid upon. His face seemed to be at peace and relief, like he hadn’t slept for days. Maybe that was the case.

Leo absentmindedly, held Takumi’s cold hand. When he suddenly realized what he did, Leo quickly placed the younger boy’s hand back onto the bed. He was glad that the other wasn’t awake to see him blushing in embarrassment.

After a few silent minutes, Takumi began to stir. He was waking up, but not to feeling better. It was a nightmare. In his dream he seemed powerless against something, unable to fight back a stronger being.

“Takumi,” Leo gently said, shaking the other. “It’s okay. You need to wake up.”

Leo continued to whisper and say a few reassuring things to his friend, slowly waking him up. When his words finally woke Takumi, Leo sighed in relief.

“What happened?” Takumi asked confused and covered in sweat. He felt extremely cold and his stomach ached. All he could remember were the sounds of knives sharpening and chains being locked on to his wrists and ankles. He shuddered at the thought, catching the other prince’s attention.

“You fainted,” Leo explained, trying to conceal the concern in his voice, although Takumi could hear it anyways. “I should be asking you that question.”

Was it some illness this boy had? Did he always faint randomly?

“I- uh,” Takumi tried to form words, but felt too tired and was too embarrassed to admit it. He began to cough a bit, Leo immediately gave him some water.

“Thank you.”

It felt weird. Finally having something in his stomach that is. He wasn’t sure if his stomach craved it or was too weak to even accept the water he drank.

Leo set the glass down, suddenly remembering the tray still full of food from earlier. He glanced back at how weak and tired his friend appeared. His hands felt cold and he seemed sickly pale.

_“But I ate my lunch already,” Elise explained, trying to convince the servant._

_“Oh no!” The servant shook her head, “You can’t pull that trick on me, young lady. You better eat your lunch and respect how long the kitchen staff worked to prepare it for you.”_

Leo remembered overhearing these types of conversations several times when he passed Elise’s room.

“You haven’t been eating, have you?” Leo glared at Takumi suspiciously. “This...this all makes so much sense now!”

Leo slapped his forehead, still in disbelief. How did he not realize this sooner? When Xander told him to be alert, he thought he had done a decent job so far.

“I- I’m really, really sorry, Leo,” Takumi bit his bottom lip nervously. “I know it was disrespectful and that you're going to go on about how I’m a brat and impolite because I didn’t eat the food and I know that-”

“I do believe you are a fool Takumi. However, it’s best for me to know why you didn’t.”

“I couldn’t,” Takumi shivered, prompting Leo to head out to get another blanket. “Leo, I can’t eat Nohrian food because whenever I try to, it- it always reminds me that I’ll never get to see Hoshido ever again. I’ll never be able to get out of here.”

Leo didn’t know whether to feel guilty for having to keep him captive there or insulted. Nohr was a perfectly habitable place. Although it wasn’t much compared the bright and sunny Hoshido, it was still a place he called home. Soon though, Takumi would have to get used to living here.

“I’ll go fetch another blanket,” Leo explained once he noticed Takumi shudder again.

Takumi nodded, quietly murmuring another thank you.

_To be continued…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I don't usually end my chapters with To be continued. But in this case it seemed appropriate since it's continuing on in the next chapter and I didn't know how to end this one perfectly. 
> 
> If your wondering why Silas didn't explain to Leo anything, as a servant he believes that if the King didn't tell Leo in the first place than the king doesn't want Leo to know. So he doesn't want to get into any trouble if the situation calls for it. 
> 
> Poor Takumi! Precious baby fainted! Remember kids, you should always eat your vegetables! That's the lesson of this whole entire chapter.


	12. Crying The Tears I Never Knew I Kept Inside Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation from the ending of the last chapter.
> 
> Leo comforts Takumi when he misses his family. Also eating problem fixed or on the process of being fixed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning to post this yesterday as I had time to, but then I lost track of time procrastinating and completely forgot about it. So sorry! 
> 
> So I now give you this chapter! 
> 
> (I feel really guilty, so I might end up posting another chapter today to make up for it).

  
Takumi had been sitting patiently on the bed he was placed on. He rubbed his arms, trying to get the slightest bit of warmth. Unfortunately, his fingers felt as cold as ice at the moment which wasn’t helping him feel any warmer. It was nice for Leo to go to get another blanket for him. To be honest, he expected Leo to be very cross with him, not offer to fetch another blanket.

Although, the gesture was kind and generous, he still felt this feeling that Leo was hiding his anger. He had to ready himself for when it was lashed out at him. Takumi scanned the room, focusing on every single medicine bottle and staff there was. Boy, did he wish there were festals.

He looked around, healer supplies everywhere. It reminded him so much of his sister, Sakura. He felt extremely bad for having to leave her like that. The two were close, since their age difference wasn’t as big compared to theirs and Corrin, Ryoma or Hinoka. It must’ve broken her heart after he was so violently ripped away from her life.

He never liked seeing his younger sister upset. Not even imagining it was good. One time, Sakura had fallen down, scraping her knee. She cried for a bit before she realized that her tiny scrape was nothing compared to what soldiers have to face. This lead her to want to become a healer for the army. This made her depressed and stressed for many days. So to make her feel a bit better, Takumi stole a Hoshidan pastry from the kitchen. It was one of her favourites. A small candied peach tart that she used to enjoy eating when they sat down, watching the cherry blossom trees bloom.

Takumi hoped- no wished that Sakura was doing fine. That she and his other siblings were still smiling. Heck, he even wanted Corrin to continue to obnoxiously laugh. The laugh she made when she teased her siblings or when she happened to _remember_ an embarrassing moment they experienced. He wanted them all to laugh and smile. Even Ryoma.

He didn’t want any of them to worry. Ryoma would become an honourable samurai and king, Hinoka would fly her Pegasus to all the places she desired, Corrin would become the knight she wanted to be and Sakura would heal the sick and injured and play her koto to her heart's content.

Leo came back with a blanket, wrapping it around Takumi. He immediately felt warmer, however as he was lost in his thoughts, he barely even seemed to notice that he was cold. Or the cold had numbed his body.

“Takumi?” Leo caught his attention as the prince sat down on a chair beside Takumi’s nursing cot. Leo’s voice was filled with worry, the prince didn’t even bother hiding it this time. “Why are you crying?”

 _He was crying?_ Takumi’s hand flew to his cheek and sure enough, tears were flowing down them. When did he start crying?

“I guess I started crying when I thought about- about,” Takumi forced himself to say the next few words. Leo was his friend now. He would understand, “my younger sister.”

When Leo didn’t say anything, Takumi felt like a fool for even saying it out loud. Of course, he wouldn’t understand the pain he suffered through so far.

“It’s stupid,” Takumi sighed, shifting awkwardly. “Just- just forget about it.”

“No,” Leo put his hand on Takumi’s shoulder. “Continue. Tell me more about her.”

“Oh, well- um her name is Sakura,” Takumi started, smoothing the silk on his robe. “She’s a very shy girl. Sweet, but humble. She is always kind and caring, being extremely selfless and compassionate. That’s probably why everyone loves her.”

“She sounds like a good younger sister to have,” Leo commented, before he blurted the next sentence to cover up his mistake. “Not that Elise is not a good little sister to have!”

Takumi just laughed at this and smiled. Leo suddenly forgot that the two were sitting in a medical room because Takumi had fainted in his bedroom. That warm smile had made him forget reality for a second. It was like it was only the two of them in that world. And more than anything, Leo wished for this moment to never end. He wanted to always see that smile on the other boy. To always feel this warm feeling, you would call happiness. Something his father would call nonsense. Weakness.

“Was she the girl my father talked about?” Leo asked. “The one that managed to escape when you stabbed one of the soldiers.”

“Yes,” Takumi simply replied. Although it felt good to finally talk about all this, his well being wasn’t ready to go into too much detail.

“Now that I think about it though,” Takumi pondered. “Sakura and Elise would’ve became fast friends if they ever met.”

“Really?” Leo seemed interested with this statement. “What does she like doing on her free time?”

“Sakura always liked crafting things and gardening,” Takumi answered. “She loved making tea and playing her koto. But most importantly she loved studying plants for their healing properties and healing magic.”

“Koto? What is that?” Leo asked, Takumi thankful that the other prince didn’t butcher his language this time.

“It’s a Hoshidan string instrument,” Takumi explained, smiling at the thought of his little sister plucking the strings.

“I’d love to see one someday,” Leo smiled just at the sight of the other boy’s smile. “Maybe someday you’ll be able to show me.”

Leo instantly regretted saying the second part when he saw tears begin to fall rapidly from Takumi’s amber eyes. Pools of hot tears streamed down his cheeks as he laughed. It wasn’t a happy laugh. It wasn’t a teasing laugh or the laugh that sometimes made Leo’s blood boil from the comeback that left Takumi’s mouth. It was a sad laugh, making Leo’s heart ache. He almost felt like crying at that moment.

“We both know that that will never happen, Leo,” Takumi sniffled, attempting to wipe away his tears. “I’m never leaving here. I won’t be able to see Hoshido ever again. Especially not my own family.”

At that point, all Leo wanted to do was hug the younger boy. Hold him close and never let go until the tears stopped rolling down his face. Until he was happy and laughing and was telling Leo that his clothing was inside out or that his headband was crooked again.

“I can’t say that you will see Hoshido or even your family ever again,” Leo swallowed the lump in his throat. “But I will stay with you when you feel like you’re missing them. I’ll stay with you when you’re sad or when you want to cry until you can no longer.”

“I’m here with you.”

“Th- Thank you, Leo,” Takumi nearly whispered. Tears still refused to stop, but Takumi looked back at Leo and gave a small smile.

He didn’t know if Takumi felt awkward or anything about his next gesture, but Leo hugged him, pulling him close. The silver haired boy wasn’t opposed to this and he definitely wasn’t shoving Leo off. He instead accepted the embrace.

For what felt like an eternity, Leo held the other close. He could hear their heartbeats and he could feel the small breaths that left them both. Finally, Leo pulled slightly away, not too roughly, but softly.

“I told a few servants to leave some freshly cooked food in your room,” Leo explained, changing the subject.

“What?!”

“You need to eat food,” Leo explained, smacking the other’s shoulder lightly.

Before Takumi could protest, Leo picked him up again bridal style, still wrapped in blankets.

“L- Leo!!! What are y- you doing?!” Takumi cried out, causing Leo to grin devilishly.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Leo smirked at the flustered boy. “I’m bringing you to your room.”

“You don’t have to carry me, you idiot!” Takumi tried to wriggle free.

“You can barely walk with all of your energy drained,” Leo pointed out. “You fainted remember.”

“Well you’re a prince. You don’t have to be the one who carries me,” Takumi exclaimed, frowning. “Silas could do it.”

“Too late for that,” Leo laughed. “Besides, I carried you to the infirmary anyways. What is the difference if I carry you back?”

“Wait! You what?”

Leo began to walk towards the room, swiftly opening the door without any problems. Training with a sword really paid off. No, scratch that. Training with a sword against Xander really paid off. Though he was nowhere close to being as strong as his older brother, Leo was still quite impressed with himself.

He gently placed Takumi on to the desk chair and thankfully there was a tray full of food, freshly cooked and prepared.

Leo pulled out another chair (that he thankfully asked a servant to bring as well) and sat beside Takumi.

“You’re not leaving until I eat, right?” Takumi sighed when Leo nodded his head.

“Okay, um,”’Takumi picked up a fork, staring at the silverware. He nearly dropped it before managing to catch it. “How do you use...this?”

Leo bursted out laughing, tears almost forming in his eyes.

“You don’t know how to use a fork?”

“Hey, I-!” Takumi pouted. “I’m just used to using chopsticks.”

“You do this,” Leo took the fork from Takumi’s hand and demonstrated with a piece of meat.

“Oh,” Takumi stared in curiosity, making Leo’s smile grow even bigger. He really didn’t know how to use silverware.

“Now eat,” Leo ordered.

“Fine,” Takumi ate the cooked meat and stubbornly chewed on it, swallowing.

“See that wasn’t so bad,” Leo motioned for him to continue.

Takumi eventually got the hang of using the silver utensils, though he wished he had some chopsticks. He really missed using them, especially since Hinoka and Corrin would always have a competition to see who could use them better.

He nearly chuckled at the memory, but remembered where he was and who he was accompanied with and stopped himself.

“What is this?” Takumi poked at the slab of meat curiously.

“It’s steak,” Leo answered. “One of Camilla’s favourite foods.”

Takumi slightly nodded, remembering Camilla. She really didn’t seem to trust Takumi all that much yet. He wanted to scoff at the thought. If anything, he shouldn’t trust her. It wasn’t like he could get hands on a weapon and kill her _precious_ family. Especially, since he was the one forced to live in enemy territory.

The steak tasted different. The spices and sauces were a strange combination compared to his Hoshidan palette. But he managed to finish half of it.

“No more,” he said, “I haven’t eaten much for so long, you can’t expect me to eat a big meal on such an empty stomach without getting a stomach ache or cramp.”

Leo sighed, this time being the one in defeat. Clearly, the other prince was smart enough to have known this information, not asking for any closure of anything.

“Very well,” Leo smiled, faintly. It was a small smile, but Takumi caught it. “At least you ate food.”

Once again, Leo picked up the shorter male, causing him to let out a high pitched squeal. Leo laughed at the cute sound and Takumi blushed a deep pink.

“What are you doing now?”

“I’m escorting you to your bed,” Leo explained. “How rude it would be if I didn’t.”

He placed the silver haired boy onto his plush bed and adjusted the blankets and sheets.

“Thank you,” Takumi said, grateful for all of Leo’s assistance. With some slight hesitation, Takumi added, “Arigato gozaimasu.”

Leo smiled for the hundredth time after hearing the Hoshidan language. Even though they were the enemy kingdom, Leo found their language a fascinating one. He failed countless times pronouncing simple phrases though.

“No need to thank me, Takumi,” Leo’s brown eyes softened. “You’re my friend now.”

“You don’t know how much,” Takumi’s amber eyes stared deeply into Leo’s. “How much this means to me right now. So thank you again.”

Leo breathed out a soft laugh, before patting his friend’s shoulder. “Get some sleep, okay?”

Takumi nodded, Leo could’ve sworn that he saw hesitation or nervousness in the other.

“Goodnight.”

“Oyasuminasai.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More bridal style carrying folks!
> 
> Headcannon: Leo now eats at least one meal a day with Takumi to insure that he eats food. {sighs} such stubborn babies.
> 
> As always thanks for reading! Still so sorry for being a dumb person. What can I say? It's one of my natural talents


	13. Can't Fight Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's almost Camilla's birthday and Leo has formed a plan that allows his Hoshidan friend to attend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the guilt chapter. Still feel bad for being stupid.
> 
> But anyway, enough about me! More about the precious stubborn babies! 
> 
> Enjoy!

  
He was stabbed. He was whipped. He was cut. He was stained. Stained with his own blood. He was scarred. Body covered in wounds that would haunt him for the rest of his worthless life.

“I had fun this session,” Iago sneered, trill voice echoing through the cell.

This time he was thrown back in the prison cell, acknowledging how each session would be different- more _gruesome_ than the last.

It was getting harder to breath in the stuffy room. Takumi was sweating, and choking on the strong metallic scent of his own blood. A healer came by again to help him. Giving him a potion to prevent damage to his important organs, bones and nerves and bandaging up his wounds.

“Hm. Seems your father is still indecisive about what to do,” Iago faked pity for the second Hoshidan Prince. “Too bad, huh?”

“It’s quite hilarious really,” the ugly, tall man continued to banter. “If it was Princess Sakura, your troops would’ve marched down towards Nohr in an instant. Seems as if the plan would’ve worked better with her after all.”

It hurt. It hurt more than the open flesh, with burning blood bubbling over. The fact that Iago was right. The fact that everyone in Hoshido loved Sakura more than him. If it was her they would probably mourn over her and desperately try to get her back. But with him, no one would mourn. In fact, they were all probably grateful that Nohr had gotten rid of him for them.

It hurt and burned his heart to imagine the celebrations thrown by the Hoshidans across his homeland because of his riddance. No one would cry or shed a single tear for him. No wonder his father or mother weren’t making a move yet. They probably hated him too, found him as a burden or a nuisance.

“Oh my,” Iago cackled, hysterically. “Did I hurt little Takumi’s feelings?”

His cold thin fingers laced through the prince’s hair, pulling a small section near the front again. A new pair of shining silver scissors cut and Iago finally pulled away. Iago had doused a big paintbrush with his blood, making Takumi wonder what happened when the royal family of Hoshido received things like that. Luckily, Iago didn’t do much but stab his side this time.

“Off with you now,” Iago clapped his bony hands together, lips spread into a wide grin. “Crown Prince Xander shall escort you back.”

Prince Xander? Shouldn’t he be doing more important things? Leo had mentioned that he occasionally trained in the sword with his older brother. He also had talked about how busy the crown prince was.

This time, Takumi managed to stand up and walk out of the room fine. However, as he met up with the prince to head up the stairs, his legs began to feel wobbly. He managed to stable himself by pressing onto the cold stone wall. Prince Xander didn’t question anything. The blonde obviously knew what was happening to the Hoshidan prince. _Weird. If Xander knew, why didn’t Leo or Elise?_ Takumi wasn’t entirely sure with Camilla. She always seemed to know more than she led on.

“I believe my brother is waiting for you in your room,” Xander suddenly spoke.

Takumi wanted to nod his head politely, but instead he bursted out laughing. He was 100% sure that the older prince thought he was losing it (though his expression remained the same and he didn't seem to be bothered at all by the sudden reaction). But Takumi couldn’t help it. He just wanted to laugh at this whole entire stupid situation. Leo was going to find out eventually, whether it be now or later. Maybe now, Leo would understand who he was and how he was just a mere object to the King. A simple tool used to lure Hoshido to create a full on war against Nohr. The spark that started the fire.

Takumi just found it sickeningly hilarious how he never got to escape the endless lies and torture. He was never going to escape Nohr.

Prince Xander was kind enough to open the door and Leo stood up immediately from where he was seated at the desk.

“Where were you?” Leo asked, Takumi unsure who he was addressing.

Before words could form in his mouth, Xander spoke up.

“He was with me. Seeing as how much time everyone else has been having with him, I decided to talk with him myself,” Xander lied. Leo nodded his head and at this point Takumi couldn’t tell if the prince believed his brother or not. He did notice that Leo seemed to be thinking about something else.

Of course, if Takumi just started hacking blood on the floor, Leo would finally know the sick, twisted truth his father was hiding, Iago was hiding and Xander was hiding. But he didn’t. And Leo didn’t get the truth he seemed to seek for.

Before Takumi knew it, Xander was gone and Leo was pulling him into the room, agitating his fresh wound slightly. Biting his lip, to prevent himself from whimpering in pain, Takumi faced his friend who seemed quite excited over the thought of something.

“What is it?” Takumi asked.

“I have exciting news...well it’s more of exciting news for Nohrians,” Leo bantered. “In a few days my Father will be hosting a ball for Camilla’s birthday.”

Camilla’s birthday? Not to offend anyone but he never really thought that King Garon was kind enough to really host a ball in favor of one of his children.

“Well, it’s mostly to find Camilla a suitor for the future,” Leo continued, “but nonetheless it is still a banquet hosted in her honour.”

“Well, okay,” Takumi nodded his head. “I hope you have a good time.”

“Actually,” Leo smirked. “I asked Xander to pull a few strings and you’re allowed to go as well.”

Takumi should’ve been excited. He got to leave his room and go somewhere that wasn’t a dark throne room or a stuffy dungeon cell. However, he knew that something was wrong. Why would they let him go to a ball? He was Hoshidan after all.

“But,” Leo continued. Takumi knew that there was a catch.“You can’t just go in there looking like a Hoshidan. I know before you weren’t allowed to wear Nohrian clothing, however this is a banquet.”

“The only thing is that your hair is too long for a boy to be considered Nohrian.”

“So what does that mean for me?” Takumi asked, confused.

After Leo explained what was going to happen, Takumi wanted to flip over a table.

“I am not dressing up as a girl!”

“Elise can style your hair and you can wear some pants underneath the dress,” Leo said quickly.

“But-”

“It’s the only reasonable way to disguise you,” Leo cut him off. “Unless you want to cut your hair.”

“No!” Takumi almost said too fast. “I mean I can just not go.”

“I know that,” Leo seemed slightly hurt, which made Takumi feel terrible. “But this is your chance to actually make interactions with different people and see more of the castle.”

“But I have to be a girl.”

“I’ll stay with you and by you,” Leo offered. “Besides if you plan on going anywhere outside I have to anyway.”

“If one guy flirts with me, so help me I’ll-”

“I won’t let anyone,” Leo assured him. “It’s Camilla’s birthday. The least you could do is attend.”

“Fine,” Takumi sighed, pain still rippling through his body. “What do Nohrian girls even wear?”

“That’s where Elise comes in,” Leo explained. “She has plenty of clothing that will fit you. She has a lot of dresses that are too big for her, since all the seamstresses seem to forget how petite she is.”

“I- I’m not gonna like this,” Takumi groaned. “And you owe me one.”

Leo raised his hands in defense. “Okay, okay. Just don’t make a fool out of yourself at the party.”

“I’m gonna be a guy wearing a dress,” Takumi huffed, “I think I’m already considered a fool.”

“Now are there any more complaints?”

“If the dress is pink I’m gonna strangle you.”

“I’ll have to persuade Elise on that one.”

“And I don’t want anything eye-catching either. Something simple is fine.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Nothing too short either.”

“It wasn’t like anyone was planning to make it too short.”

“What about your creepy friend Niles?”

Takumi shuddered at the thought of the one eyed boy. He used to be a criminal in the streets until King Garon finally caught him. Leo had convinced everyone to spare him though, finding him as a suitable future retainer. He was extremely lewd and made sexual jokes and comments though. Even for his age.

“Don’t joke about that,” Leo sighed, before smiling.

“What’s my fake name?” Takumi asked curiously.

“Hm, haven’t thought about that one,” Leo walked around the room. “I’m sure Elise would come up with something interesting. Or maybe even the birthday girl.”

As if on cue, Elise bounced into the room.

“Leo! I found you!” Elise giggled, embracing her older brother, startling him. At the sight, Takumi felt slightly saddened, being reminded of Sakura once again.

“C’mon! You promised me you’d help me pick a dress,” Elise pulled on her brother who didn’t move an inch.

“Yes, little brother,” Camilla appeared out of nowhere, nearly giving Takumi a heart attack. “Elise also wants to pick out a new headband for you.”

Takumi snickered and earned a glare from Leo.

“Leo!” Elise frowned.

“I’ll go, I’ll go,” Leo sighed, “but first you need to give me a fake Nohrian name for Takumi. A girl one.”

“Ooh!” Elise let go of her brother and pondered. “Hm. What about…Sophie?”

“I quite like that name as well,” Camilla smiled, flipping her long lavender locks off her shoulder.

“Then it’s settled,” Leo laughed. _He found this hilarious, didn’t he?_ “I’ll see you later, Sophie.”

Takumi stuck out his tongue as Leo was dragged away by his sisters.

He flopped himself onto his bed, unintentionally smacking the cut on his side. This time Takumi allowed himself to whimper in pain. As the pain somewhat ceased, Takumi sighed. Boy, was this gonna be one hell of a week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takumi in a dress- or Sophie! (More of Takumi going to be in a dress)
> 
> Did you get the reference with the name Sophie?
> 
> Don't blame Leo for being dumb in this chapter, okay? He's just happy to finally bring Takumi out of the small, boring room of his. And his happy thoughts kind of interfere with his detective thoughts.


	14. Can I Have This Dance?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ball hosted for Camilla's birthday had arrived. Takumi, known as Sophie for the night must survive the night in the ballroom. Luckily, he had Leo by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I reeeeeaaaally enjoyed writing this chapter for some reason. Stubborn babies and their precious lovey-dovey feelings for one another. 
> 
> While I was writing this I listened to "Can I have this dance?" From High School Musical 3, cause why not?
> 
> P.S When I was listening to the song, I just imagined Azura and Silas singing it. I don't know why but I can imagine Zac Efron's singing voice as Silas'
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

  
Leo knocked on Elise’s bedroom door. Although he couldn’t make out any words, Leo could identify Elise’s squeal and Camilla’s laugh. The door flung open and Elise beamed brightly.

She was dressed in a lovely pink dress. The sleeves ended near her shoulders and were a bit poofy. Her hair was let down from her usual pigtails, but her two classic bows remained on either side of her head. She wore simple, long, white gloves and flat pink shoes with a tiny bow on the top of each one.

As Leo entered he saw the birthday girl, dressed quite nicely. Camilla wore a long sleeveless black dress, a few sparkles here and there. Her dress was sewn to perfection and there was no doubt that she would catch the attention of many awaiting young noblemen. She had a matching diamond bracelet and necklace that caught the light whenever she moved.

Looking at his sisters, who had spent hours getting ready, Leo couldn’t help but think back to how the servants helped him dress. He was forced to wear classic Nohrian formal wear fit for a prince. _At least it was black_.

“Might I say, you look great little brother,” Camilla smiled, approvingly.

“You look magnificent, big brother!” Elise cheered. “But you’ll never look as good as Sophie!”

Leo raised an eyebrow. She seemed quite proud of her work.

“Come out Sophie,” Camilla called, unable to hold her own excitement.

“No,” a voice came from the corner of the room. Elise’s giant bed blocked Leo’s view, so he was unable to see what his sisters had done to the poor fellow.

“But Leo wants to see!” Elise pleaded, pouting.

“...F- Fine, but don’t laugh or I’ll punch you.”

“I never knew Sophie was so violent,” Leo laughed, smoothing his vest.

Takumi nervously shuffled out from his hiding spot, blushing in clear embarrassment.

He wore a light blue dress that reached around shin level. The sleeves were slightly loose, ending at his elbows. The dress was decorated with lace trim and on the center of the chest was a small, dainty white bow. The dress was simple, but unfortunately Elise still managed to find one that was quite eye-catching, much to Takumi’s oblivion.

The shorter boy’s long hair was tied into a low bun with a white ribbon. On one side a small section of hair was braided, disappearing into the bun concealing the short strands. He also had a hint of makeup. A bit of blush and a swipe of what he believed Camilla called lipgloss.

He wore simple blue flat shoes. For some reason Leo had a feeling that Camilla had chosen the pair instead of Elise, since it was lacking a flare of pink or a bow.

In other words, Takumi looked _amazing_. Leo could’ve sworn that his face was burning a blush matching Takumi’s. It was his _friend_. There was no reason to feel so flustered by his appearance.

“Y- You look nice,” Takumi commented first, politely curtsying. The shorter male gulped. He should've said dashing or handsome. Or amazing.

Leo seemed amused. No doubt about it, Elise and Camilla forced Takumi to learn how to curtsy for the ball.

“You look,” _Beautiful. Breath-taking. Stunning. Pretty_ ,“Presentable.”

Presentable? Leo had definitely insulted the other. Ready to get slapped in the face, Leo seemed surprised when Takumi paid no mind to the somewhat compliment.

 _Of course he didn’t care Leo. It wasn’t like he expected you to call him beautiful or anything_.

“We should go first,” Elise exclaimed, addressing herself and Camilla. “The birthday girl should greet her guests.”

“My my, Elise,” Camilla’s lips curled into a smile. “How you’ve grown so much. I’ll head over to meet up with the guests with you.”

Camilla winked at Leo before disappearing with his younger sister. The gesture made him blush even harder. Thankfully Takumi didn’t see him blush or his older sister’s playful wink.

“They sure had a lot of fun getting you ready,” Leo bemused.

“They did,” Takumi laughed, a light pink still dusted his cheeks. “They taught me how to curtsy and everything.”

“So you seem prepared.”

“Not really,” Takumi retorted. “I never really liked Hoshidan banquets. The festivals were fine, but the banquets were always filled with so many… Stuck up people.”

“Ah, you attended Hoshidan banquets?”

Takumi immediately tensed up. _Crap, he screwed up_. He tried to cover up his lie, unsure if he did a good job or not.

“A few, but only when they were extreme special occasions. The royal family was nice enough to host some that allowed any Hoshidan in,” Takumi lied through his teeth. Leo had no knowledge how Hoshido worked, so he had to believe him.

Leo nodded his head and raised his arm out. “Shall we go?”

“Oh um… Okay,” Takumi replied, quite shyly again.

He linked arms with the other prince smiling softly.

“Hey, Leo?”

“Yes, Ta- Sophie,” Leo looked over at the other.

“Can you do most of the talking if we’re asked anything?”

“Of course,” Leo smiled, staring into the shorter’s amber eyes before catching himself and leading them to the ballroom.

After being crammed in that room for so long, Takumi seemed to take in everything he saw or passed by. Just passing a mere window seemed to make the other so content, it made Leo’s heart swell and that warm feeling of happiness returned. Returned to remind him of his father’s distasteful words.

Before they had even entered the ballroom, the two could hear the chatter and laughter, and of course, the music. Leo wanted to seem the least bit confident, but he wasn’t really sure if he was ready to just waltz in. Takumi poked his head inside before returning by Leo’s side, linking arms again.

“Princess Camilla seemed to be entertained by a few possible suitors,” Takumi said, letting out a small laugh, “however, Elise seems to be chasing them away.”

Leo wasn’t sure if Elise was doing it intentionally to protect Camilla or scaring them off unintentionally, just wanting to find someone to play with.

“Shall we enter?” Leo asked.

“We shall,” Takumi smiled as Leo lead them into the ballroom.

Women were dressed in fine gowns, guided across the polished dance floor by young men. Noble children who were forced to attend, trudged along, unable to conceal their detest. Perched on a comfy, large throne was no other than the king himself, observing from afar. Xander, the crown prince was dressed nicely and befitting for a royal, standing beside his father.

Iago was nowhere in sight at the moment, which made Takumi feel a bit more secure in the crowded banquet hall.

“Isn’t it amazing here?” Elise scurried over to the two boys, grinning. Silas, who was dressed well for a servant, came running after her, out of breath.

“Lady Elise,” Silas panted. “Please calm down.”

Leo nodded his head in greeting to Silas, who bowed politely to his prince. Although he was a servant, he was in charge of staying and guarding Elise. Some Nohrian men could be creepy, therefore a select few were supposed to stay near the two princesses at all cost during these types of celebrations. Gunter was with Camilla, making sure none of the possible suitors got a bit carried away with her.

“Prince Leo and…,” Silas paused, staring in surprise.

“Sophie,” Leo replied. “Well, it’s Takumi, but he’s Sophie for tonight.”

“I uh, I see,” Silas still looked taken aback by the sight of the Hoshidan crossdressing.

“It’s a long story,” Takumi sighed.

He playfully nudged Silas. “Maybe you’ll find that girl by the lake.”

“That is no joking matter,” Silas huffed, confusing poor Leo. Did he miss something?

“That guy is trying to interest Camilla,” Elise gasped. “He’s gonna dance with her! Silas dance with me!”

“I will see you later Prince Leo and… Sophie,” Silas turned to leave with the bubbly Elise before he added, “Sophie is quite a lovely name. I’ll consider naming my future daughter that.”

Leo lead Takumi deeper into the ballroom, attempting to hide them in the crowd, away from his father’s view. He knew that Xander was the reason why Takumi was even here in the first place, but he still didn’t want to be caught by him.

“Is this any different from your Hoshidan banquets?” Leo asked, curiously.

Takumi looked around a bit before turning back to the taller boy. “Not really, besides the fact that there seems to be plenty of drunken men over there.”

Leo cursed as he saw the Nohrian creeps that he had mentioned in his head not so long ago. Liquor always showed the worst side in men. And women. Leo shuddered at the terrible incidents he had witnessed.

“Some noblemen tend to get carried away,” Leo shook his head, disappointedly. “Way too carried away.”

“As long as they don’t do anything to me, I’m fine,” Takumi said. Leo could’ve sworn the other had pulled closer, slightly afraid of the intoxicated nobles.

“Remember, I won’t let them,” Leo spoke gently.

A few dukes and regents greeted Leo and as promised, the second prince of Nohr did pretty much all of the talking. Takumi couldn't help but think that the Nohrian noblemen were just like the ones back at Hoshido. Always trying to butter up the royal family as if it would really do anything.

After what felt like endless chatting, Leo began to lead the other somewhere else.

“Where are we going?” Takumi asked, still following the other’s lead.

“I want to take you outside.”

“Outside?” Takumi exclaimed, excitedly.

“You need some fresh air,” Leo explained. “Although there really isn’t much to look at in Nohr.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Takumi smiled, brightly bringing Leo the warm feeling you call happiness once again. “Just show me whatever feels special to you.”

“This way, Sophie,” Leo teased, leading the other again across the dance floor to the few opened doors leading to the deserted garden.

Takumi faked a sweet smile, “Can it, prince.”

“Again with the brash tendencies, milady?”

“Shut up!”

The silver haired boy was met with a cool breeze that made him want to run around again and accept the fresh air swirling around him. It was still chilly outside, but he didn’t care.

The trees were bare, since it was autumn, yet Takumi still seemed grateful for it. At least he finally got to see grass and trees… And pretty much anything that wasn’t stone wall.

“Thank you, Leo,” Takumi breathed, expert eyes scanning the dark pavilion outside. His night vision was really improving from all his time in the dark country. “I really needed this.”

“I assume dressing up as a girl wasn’t so bad after all. If it meant going outside that is,” Leo looked at the bare trees, blowing gently in the breeze. If Takumi could find this amazing than Leo could too, even if he lived all his life staring at the same boring trees. All he could think about was showing the other boy the lively trees he could sprout using Brynhildr.

“It’s still _extremely_ embarrassing though,” Takumi hissed, smoothing the bottom half of his dress. “How do girls wear these all the time?”

“Elise quite enjoys wearing dresses,” Leo remarked. “She finds it amusing playing dress-up with Camilla and a few of the female servants.”

“The last thing I need is to become one of her victims,” Takumi sighed. “Hairstyling was enough.”

“And I thought Sophie loved dressing up. In fact, I believe that Elise has plenty of dresses for her to try on,” Leo teased.

“Sophie also likes kicking guys in the shin when they don’t know when to shut up,” Takumi glowered.

“She was always a violent one,” Leo sighed.

Noticing how it was slightly crooked, Takumi adjusted Leo’s headband once more, grinning.

“Never thought I’d see you wear such a fancy headband,” Takumi finished fixing the headband.

“Never thought I’d see you in a dress.”

“Watch it!”

Leo laughed, turning around to peek back into the ballroom. Inside everyone formed a large circle around a young man preparing to dance with no other than Camilla. As the music began to play and everyone watched in awe as the pair glided across the dance floor, more couples began to join in, dancing in perfect step and rhythm.

The young boy twirled Camilla, harbouring an undeniable talent for dance. This seemed to impress Camilla as well as they swayed to the flourishing orchestral music.

Elise came skipping over to the two boys once more.

“Leo! Silas went to the chamber pot and Gunter keeps rejecting me!” Elise frowned. “Please, Leo? Will you dance with me?”

Leo’s brown eyes met Takumi’s Amber. Takumi nodded his head in approval, letting Elise drag Leo onto the dance floor.

He couldn’t help but find it interesting that Elise was the one who asked Leo.

The siblings seemed to know how to dance to the song. Elise was talking to Leo about something that Takumi couldn’t pick up, however he did see Leo blush after her comment.

Takumi smoothed his dress again, hand running down the lace. _At least it’s not pink_. He hoped that he looked hideous. Unattractive and displeasing. If anything he didn’t want some nobleman's sons walking over to him to ask him to dance. The mere thought of young boys salivating over the sight of him made him shiver in pure disgust.

A young boy (in his teens) made his way through the sea of people, his face flushed from drinking. He was obviously _way_ too young to have understood the limits of the amount of liquor he should’ve drank and _way_ too inexperienced to handle it well. Takumi was praying that he would walk past because he caught the sight of some fine lady that Takumi just happened to be standing in front of.

The brunette licked his lips and Takumi wanted to run. Run up to his room and hide.

When he finally made it to stand directly in front of the silver haired boy, Takumi realized how much taller the noble boy was. Much more of a height difference than of he and Leo. The boy seemed to dress nicely, indicating his noble blood, however the strong scent of alcohol that followed him made Takumi want to gag.

A sweaty hand stretched out towards him, offering him to hold it.

“May I have this dance, fine lady?” his words slightly slurred and Takumi wanted to run again.

“N- no thanks,” Takumi gulped, eyeing at the guy in front of him nervously.

“C’mon, don’t tease me like that,” he grinned. “What’s your name?”

“It’s um not of importance to you,” Takumi grabbed some of his dress tightly, knuckles turning white.

“You don’t have to play hard to get with me,” the noble boy laughed sending more of the foul scent of wine into the already polluted air.

“I’m sure there are plenty of other girls who are willing to dance with you,” Takumi tried.

“But none of them are as _pretty_ as you,” he placed a sweaty hand on Takumi’s shoulder and the shorter immediately tensed up. Luckily, his hand slid off his shoulder a few seconds after, slightly relieving Takumi. Barely.

Unfortunately, he couldn't slap the guy, though he wanted to. This noble boy could just complain to his father who will complain to king who will beat Takumi to a pulp for being a disgrace and a useless, impulsive fool. 

Takumi backed up slightly, but the boy persisted and followed. Takumi bit his lip.  _He was so screwed._

}}}-----------------------|}

Leo had a quite enjoyable time with Elise dancing. Well, besides the fact that before they even started to waltz, Elise asked him:

_“Don't you think Takumi’s beautiful?”_

She probably didn’t mean what it sounded like. She most likely just wanted to know if she and Camilla did a good job styling him.

Despite this, Leo immediately flushed crimson, but hurriedly lead Elise into the dance steps, completely avoiding her question. There was no way he was going to answer that. Just thinking about his laugh, his smile, his eyes and his hair just made Leo feel something he hadn’t really felt before. He nearly stumbled, crashing into another couple. Luckily, he caught himself before anything bad happened. If something did happen, then he was going to get an ear full from Xander or his father. Also luckily, they didn’t seem to be watching him, their focus more on the lavender haired woman and the blonde acquaintance she was dancing with.

He twirled Elise, making her laugh and comment on how great a dancer he was.

_“You should dance with Sophie later!”_

Leo blushed again, quickly thinking about something else to distract himself. He needed to practice his magic more. Maybe he could invite Takumi to watch him sometime. He wanted to catch up on reading, but that only lead him to remember how he wanted to show Takumi the library.

Before the prince knew it, the song was over and everyone was bowing and curtsying to their respective partners. Leo bowed to his smiling sister.

“Thanks, Leo! That was fun!” Elise laughed, skipping away to find Silas.

Leo decided it was about time he made it back to his friend. The next song would start soon and Leo wondered if Takumi wanted to explore anywhere with him for the time being.

A noble boy tucked a few of the shorter boy’s loose silver hair strands behind his ear, lifting his chin up. Takumi seemed so terrified and disgusted at the pink faced male in front of him. Immediate anger filled Leo’s body, something he hasn’t felt in so long. The actual need to grab Brynhildr and choke the boy with it’s vines was harder to control.

“Excuse me,” Leo cleared his throat, making no effort to conceal the death glare he was giving the noble.

“Excuse _you_ ,” the noble huffed, clearly a bit tipsy from his drinks. “We were just about to dance.”

“I apologize, but _we_ were just about to dance,” Leo grabbed Takumi’s hand and pulled him behind him protectively.

“Who do you think you are?”

“The second prince of Nohr,” Leo stated, leading his friend away from the now bewildered boy.

Leo lead Takumi all the way to the other side of the room, safe and far away from the intoxicated brunette.

“Are you okay?” Leo asked, quietly. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“I think I’ll be fine,” Takumi explained. “He did… Touch me though.”

Leo’s eyes widened and he was ready to either punch the guy clean in the face or get him disowned by his noble parents.

“Gods no! Not like _that_ ,” Takumi nearly screamed in realization. “He just touched my hair and arms.”

“But if you didn’t show up,” Takumi continued, “he probably would’ve started touching like _that_.”

“Then I’m glad I came just in time,” Leo sighed in relief, squeezing the other’s hand reassuringly.

“He’s still looking at us though,” Takumi pointed out. Leo couldn’t see the boy in the sea of people _. He had good eyesight_.

“Over there,” Takumi pointed subtly, finally allowing Leo to see the boy glaring suspiciously at the two.

“What does he want?” Leo mumbled out loud.

“I think he wants to make sure we’re dancing,” Takumi answered the question Leo didn’t even notice he spoke out loud.

“I mean you said we were going to,” Takumi recalled, nervously.

“Very well then,” Leo bowed, politely just as the orchestra began to set up for the next song. “Sophie- no, Takumi can I have this dance?”

“It’s not like I can say no,” Takumi’s lips formed a small smile, content yet extremely nervous. He politely curtsied.

Leo placed one hand on Takumi’s waist immediately feeling the other tense up and hold his breath. Takumi placed one of his hands on Leo’s shoulder.

As the music began to play, the two waltzed in perfect sync.

“Remember to breathe,” Leo chuckled, earning a glare from the shorter male.

“Remind me to sock you in the face after this,” Takumi glowered.

He did seem to relax a bit more and Leo could obviously tell that Takumi was at least breathing again. Leo had to admit that he didn’t expect Takumi to know how to dance well. He was quite shocked, however _he_ was the one who was leading, so Takumi could’ve just been following his lead.

“Twirl me and I will-”

Leo paying no mind to Takumi’s comment, gently twirled Takumi around, his dress twirling with him. Leo expertisely guided Takumi back into his arms, accidentally pulling him closer.

The music moved them. And Leo felt as if it was only them on the dance floor, every beat in sync and every movement perfect, yet it wasn’t the stiff kind of perfect. Like they were supposed to dance with one another.

Amber eyes stared into brown. And Leo saw complete bliss in the pools of Amber that seemed to carry a thousand hues of a gemstone colour. Takumi saw happiness in Leo’s warm brown eyes, something he never would’ve thought that a Nohrian would carry.

At that moment, Leo’s mind couldn’t focus on anything else. Not even the dance moves were repeating in his head. He was dancing from his heart and memory. All he could think about was the boy he was dancing with.

He wanted to kiss him. Kiss him in front of everyone. Even if they were still pretty young, it didn’t matter. People used to have children at the mere age of 16.

But that wasn’t why Leo stopped himself. Xander knew, Camilla knew, Elise knew, Gunter knew and Silas knew. His _father_ knew. That Takumi wasn’t a Nohrian girl named Sophie, that he was a Hoshidan hostage named Takumi. Kissing him would end his life. His father would not only beat him for days for kissing a Hoshidan, but for kissing a male.

So he stopped himself and just stared into the other’s eyes. Suddenly, Takumi’s back collided with a passing figure. The tall pale man grinned devilishly.

“So sorry, my fault entirely,” Iago faked sincerity before disappearing into the crowd of dancing couples (one being Camilla and another possible suitor).

Leo didn’t pay much mind to Iago bumping into them. He found it stupid nonetheless and idiotic on Iago’s part, but it didn’t seem like a huge deal. Not until Leo saw Takumi bite his lip in pain.

When Leo went to ask him what was wrong, Takumi spoke up instead.

“I- I’m so sorry, Leo,” Takumi said, words strained by what was hurting him. “But I- I have- have to go.”

Takumi ran off, managing to dodge the Nohrians and disappear to his room. Leaving Leo standing all by himself. He was about to run after his friend and find out what was going on, when a hand fell on his shoulder.

“Hello brother,” Xander greeted him, smiling. “What a lovely celebration for our sister, don’t you think?”

Leo nodded quickly. “Yes, it’s quite nice.”

 _No, it wasn’t nice_. Leo wanted to find his friend, not waste precious time standing there anxiously while his older brother made small talk with him.

Xander continued to speak and Leo had to half listen and nod his head followed by a simple agreement or response. It seemed as if Xander had a million things to discuss with him and he just had to tell him at that moment. It was highly suspicious, however it wasn’t as irking as what had happened with Takumi- or Sophie for that matter. Just when Xander bid him a farewell, Iago and Gunter just happened to want to speak with the second prince as well (though he had wanted absolutely nothing to do with Iago after what just happened).

Leo believed that Iago was talking about the food at the party and Gunter droned on about Camilla becoming more of a mature woman, by whatever they had been discussing, Leo could’ve cared less.

_Why did it feel like they were planning this?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leo will finally know the truth soon! Yay! 
> 
> Also, I'm going to murder Iago now. Hey, Iago how would you like it if my fist collided with your face? If you thought Sophie was violent, you never met me!
> 
> Also that unnamed noble boy... Glad he likes pretty things because it's gonna get pretty ugly if he tries to go near pineapple baby again! But don't worry, Tomato (I mean Leo!) will come to protect him! 
> 
> Speaking of Leo, maybe Takumi doesn't expect you to call him beautiful, but I do! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! And just in case Iago and that noble guy mysteriously disappear... You didn't read anything. Okay?


	15. Conceal Your Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo finally finds out what is happening to Takumi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to post! 
> 
> I've been pretty busy lately and actually found enough time to post a small prologue of another fic I have. But today, I give you this long awaited chapter!

  
Takumi collapsed onto his bed, pain running through his back. He really didn’t want to leave Leo so suddenly, however the hideous man going by the name Iago, had had to crash into him. And having experienced conversations- more like sessions with Iago, Takumi knew all too well that the man did it on purpose. Maybe he found it scandalous for a Nohrian prince to be dancing with a Hoshidan.

His back felt like it was on fire and Takumi already knew that one of his wounds reopened. If he stayed there, blood would have soaked his back and the thin layer of the dress he wore. Then everybody would be questioning it, not just Leo. So he had to get out of there quickly. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hide his pain as well as before, but he managed to run through the many noble men and noble women.

 _He wondered what this looked like_. A young girl running away from the second prince. That was definitely going to cause a few rumours and speculations.

Takumi quickly took off the dress, which luckily only gathered the tiniest splotch of blood. It was _hopefully_ unnoticeable, but Takumi would still advise Elise to wash it. He put on half his sleep attire, but knew that he had to change his bandages first.

Sighing, Takumi somehow managed to find new bandages hidden away in one of the desk’s drawers. He rubbed off the makeup and let his hair down from the up do that Elise had put it in.

He took off his loose under shirt before beginning to unwrap his bandages. Blood was already pouring out, so Takumi knew he had to work quickly. The pain overtook his body and he collapsed onto the floor. The stone was freezing cold, but Takumi was just happy that it took his mind off the pain for a minute.

He sat up and went to work. However, tying bandages around yourself was pretty difficult. All he felt was pain. Like it was something that ran through his body, like blood in veins. The bandages fell back down, loosely draped around his torso whenever his shaking hands tried to tie them up.

He considered finding a healer, but highly doubted that they would care. After all he was a _hostage_. It wasn’t like they were just going to hand over some healing tonics and elixirs to him. He was lucky enough to have bandages to spare.

Weakly he lifted up his hands, carrying the bandages when suddenly the door burst open.

“Takumi!”

The Hoshidan prince recognized the voice and Takumi had a mental freak out. _What the heck, Leo?!_ “Don’t you know how to knock?”

Leo opened his mouth to say a clever retort. However any words that came to mind vanished, words dying in his throat when he saw the other, sitting on the floor, bandages in hand and back bleeding.

“Wh- what happened?” Leo gasped, kneeling onto the floor next to the injured boy.

He probably looked weak. Pathetic. Useless. The poor excuse of a prince.

“I- I,” Takumi choked out after struggling to find his own voice. He could already feel himself start to break down. A wave of fresh tears began to fall from his cheeks and he felt like falling apart. Even in front of Leo.

Leo was probably sick of seeing him cry. Probably thought he was annoying and a nuisance for being that pitiful and worthless.

The taller of the two tried again, speaking quietly, voice worried, “What happened?”

“Y- you really don’t understand why I’m here, don’t you?” Takumi finally replied, voice quiet. Small. Just like how he felt right now.

Leo blinked, telling him to continue to speak.

“I’m just a mere pawn,” Takumi breathed, finally being able to say it out loud. For some reason, admitting it made it seem more real. If that was even possible. “I’m being used to start a war.”

“A war? How- What do you mean?” Leo asked, still clueless.

“They kidnapped me to try to persuade Hoshido into attacking first,” Takumi explained. “But that- that wasn’t enough. So they- Iago a-and you father… They cut me, they whip me, they do whatever it takes to coax Hoshido into firing first.”

Takumi felt more tears pour from his eyes and heard Leo take in a sharp breath.

“I- I’m so sorry,” Leo gasped out, moving closer to the crying boy.

“It’s not your fault.”

Leo pitied him. Takumi never liked feeling other’s pity when it came to anything. He was constantly in his siblings’ shadows. He was the one who had to work four times as hard as everyone else just to be noticed. He was the annoying brat who no Hoshidan was proud to call their Prince. He had felt pity before from the stares of the servants or some people who just straight up said it to his face. He never liked being pitied, yet he needed to be by Leo.

“You don’t understand,” Leo’s voice filled with regret. “When I was younger I vowed to never let my father ruin anyone...anyone I cared about.”

“He’s a monster. Cruel to even his own descendants,” Leo continued. “To his own people. I was supposed to be the only one who felt his wrath. His cruelty.”

Leo couldn’t allow Elise to be tainted at such a young age, especially by their father. He was an abusive man and Leo couldn’t bear the thought of any of his sisters taking the blows from the stone cold man perched on the throne. Therefore, he usually took it. The hits, the insults, the constant comparisons with his older brother.

“You can’t take all the torture or the pain,” Takumi nearly whispered. “Prince or not.”

“But I can prevent my friends and family from hurting,” Leo sighed and repeated, “I’m sorry.”

Before Takumi could tell him he wasn’t the one at fault again, Leo pulled him to his chest, making sure not to touch or agitate his wounds.

“What they did to you was terrible,” Leo’s brown eyes darkened. “Unforgivable.”

“L- Leo, it’s fine,” Takumi leaned into the other’s chest a bit more. “I’m getting used to it.”

“When you’re getting used to torture, you know it’s not fine,” Leo shook his head.

“I- I know, I just don’t want to see you worried,” Takumi’s voice fell quiet and small again.

“Let me help with your back,” Leo offered, but more like ordered after a few silent moments.

Takumi had nearly forgotten that he had been bleeding... and shirtless. He sat up quickly, sending a wave of pain through his back.

“Careful,” Leo helped the shorter stable himself from toppling back down from pain.

The taller of the two managed to help clean the wound, disinfect it and tie the bandages securely around the Hoshidan. Takumi allowed Leo to help him silently, lost in his own thoughts.  
He hoped that he answered all of Leo’s current questions. The last thing he wanted to do was admit that he was a prince. Then he would _know_ just how vulnerable he was. He was a prince and he was so weak that he got captured and taken to the enemy.

Takumi brought a hand to the short parts of his hair. He tucked them behind his ear again, unbeknownst to the curious stare the Nohrian prince gave him.

Leo’s hand tickled his side causing Takumi to cover his mouth with his hand to muffle to small gasp that he made.

“Why’d you do that?” Takumi glared, lowering his hand.

“We’d be sitting here for hours if I didn’t,” Leo quietly chuckled. “You’ve been staring at that wall for a few minutes.”

“Oh,” Takumi blushed, but luckily the room was dark, hiding the pink from Leo. The only thing that lit the room were a few dim candles that a few kind servants had lit before Takumi came running back in, bleeding.

Takumi put his night shirt back on, thanking Leo for treating his wounds.

“Please don’t thank me,” Leo breathed, “I haven’t done anything to help you.”

Takumi tilted his head in confusion. Leo had helped him plenty of times before. He had no idea where this was coming from.

“Sure you have, you-”

“Did I realize this sooner?” Leo cut him off, brows furrowed questioningly.

“No, but-”

“Did I stop them from torturing you?”

“No, but listen-”

“I’ve said so many rude things to you. And I was wrong and stupid for doing that.”

“Leo, stop-”

“Did I really help you in any way?”

“Yes,” Takumi gave him a small smile.

“How?” Leo asked, not believing the silver haired boy.

“You’re my friend,” Takumi answered, still earning a raised eyebrow. “You helped me through the bad times, even if you didn’t know they were bad in the first place.”

“You gave me the feeling of happiness,” Takumi continued. “Something I never thought I would feel ever again after being separated from my family and Hoshido forever.”

“I- Takumi-”

“So, thank you, Leo,” Takumi smiled and Leo could’ve sworn the dimly light room suddenly became brighter.

“Besides,” Takumi smirked. “You saved me from that drunk guy, remember?”

“I do recall that, yes,” Leo grinned back.

“Don’t I deserve something special then?” Leo meant for it to be a joke or a mere tease, however Takumi sat up a bit straighter and placed a small peck on his cheek. It was short, but sweet.

“There,” Takumi smiled, oblivious to how hard Leo was blushing and what his gesture appeared to be.

“So what happened after I ran off?” Takumi asked, breaking Leo out of his stunned trance.

“Nothing much,” Leo replied, simply, swallowing a lump in his throat. “A bunch of other girls wanted to dance with me though. They tried to insult Sophie for running off, but I ended up ignoring and avoiding them.”

“I bet Niles is gonna have a few comments to say about this,” Takumi laughed.

Leo felt it again. Happiness. The feeling that Takumi thought he’d lose forever and the feeling that Leo thought he would never be allowed to feel.

Takumi’s sudden gesture was so unexpected, that Leo might as well have returned the favour. Hooking him into another bridal hold, Leo lifted Takumi up from the cold floor.

“L- Leo? Not this again! What are you doing?” Takumi huffed.

“What? I can’t leave the injured lying on the floor,” Leo chuckled. “That wouldn’t be very prince like on my part.”

“I _ran_ out of the ballroom,” Takumi pointed out, “I can walk just fine.”

“That may be so,” Leo grinned, “but this is far more entertaining.”

“For you that it is.”

Leo breathed out another laugh before carrying Takumi over to his awaiting bed.

After placing the shorter one onto the bed, Leo sat down staring contently at him.

“Is this going to be a continuous thing?” Takumi asked, hugging one of his pillows.

Completely ignoring Takumi’s question, Leo exclaimed, “Rest well. I want to show you around the castle tomorrow.”

Takumi smiled again at the mention of leaving the room they were currently in. He layed down and pulled the covers over himself, making sure that Leo believed he was going to sleep.

With that, Takumi closed his eyes, feigning sleep. Little did he know that Leo left the room, hand on his cheek, smiling softly. Takumi listened attentively, hearing Leo walk away, opening and closing the door. After his footsteps faded away, Takumi opened his eyes again. Sitting up, Takumi crept back to the table, pulling the book in front of him once more. He opened it, finding the page he left off at, commencing his reading.

A small smile still on his face, Takumi continued to read until the candles burned out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to spoil how Leo finds out Takumi is a prince because I think the whole future chapter will be pretty interesting... But anyway! Leo finally knows! And Leo is going to go murder his father and Iago and be so angry at Xander for not telling him. But don't worry, he'll slowly convince Xander to go against Garon!
> 
> Hope you liked the chapter. Sorry for not posting for so long


	16. Capture That Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo takes Takumi to the library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! 
> 
> I'm nearing the end of all my pre written chapters :(
> 
> But don't worry or fret, I'll quickly write a few more. (too many cute ideas in my brain right now, anyway)
> 
> Enjoy!

  
“Okay, here is where I wanted to take you to today,” Leo led the eager Takumi through the hallway. “It’s a place I go to whenever I need peace and quiet or a break.”

They entered the library, immediately met with the scent of new and old books.

Leo always thought of the library as his own little special place. Although it was pretty much free for anyone in the castle to use, Leo found himself to be the one who used it the most, if not the only one. It was so peaceful and quiet there. Plus he could be surrounded by books, pages filled with knowledge he yearned to know and learn.

It was always one of his goals, although fairly silly and foolish, to read every single book in the room. He knew it seemed nearly impossible. He probably wasn’t even done a quarter. He had been pretty busy lately, so he hadn’t been able to catch up with his reading.

He had really wanted to show Takumi the library. He really cherished that place and wanted to share it with the other. However, Leo also knew that it was also partially because he was avoiding Xander for the day. He still hadn’t talked to his older brother after having found out about what was really going on. Xander knew and didn’t tell Leo. Not only did that hurt him, but it made him angry that his brother could hide something as serious and important.

Takumi’s eyes scanned through the many multi colored books on the high shelves. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of colour in the dark kingdom. Some bright colours that he once took pride in in Hoshido. The bright red leather covers of a few reminded him of Hinoka’s bold, fiery red hair.

“The library?” Takumi breathed a soft laugh, smirking teasingly. “Should’ve guessed this was your go to place.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Leo scoffed, hand placed against his chest, pretending to take offense.

“Well,” Takumi slowly began to walk into the dim lit room. “You are a bookworm and all.”

Leo couldn’t deny that fact. However, it still got slightly on his nerves when Takumi could easily point it out.

“Really? I could’ve sworn you were one yourself.”

Takumi looked through a row of books, studying each one intently.

“Ha! At this rate, I probably am,” Takumi laughed. “It’s nice here.”

“I know. Why do you think I brought you here?” Leo sighed, smiling.

“Hey! I’m not stupid okay, I was just stating my opinion,” Takumi huffed, pulling out a red book from the shelf.

Leo had taken a seat in one of the library’s plush chairs, pulling out the book he left on the table a few nights before. The maids and servants knew better then to clean away any books left on the tables by the second prince of Nohr. They knew how often Leo came into the room and how often he liked to bookmark his things and leave them to continue on the next day.

He opened it, finding the phrase he left off at, recommencing his read.

Takumi hopped onto another one of the plush chairs, already reading through the book in his hands. He sat in a cross legged position on the chair, causing Leo to raise an eyebrow. Takumi continued to read, oblivious to how childish he looked sitting in that position.

Leo’s eyes trailed back to the cut hair. It was obviously going to grow slower than the rest of Takumi’s hair, so he wondered what Takumi would do to at least make his hair look presentable in the future. It still made Leo’s heart ache at the thought of the torture his father put him through. Leo had once been abused by his father, hit everyday and scolded for small details he didn’t know he was doing wrong.

However, this slowly disappeared over time when his father got busier and busier. _Probably planning this_. His father’s attention shifted towards their hostage. Now, Takumi was feeling his father’s hits and whatever he commands Iago to do.

“Why are you staring at me?” Takumi asked, suddenly. Leo realized how long he had been staring at the other and nearly blushed before composing himself some what.

“I was just curious about the way you sit,” Leo pointed over to Takumi’s crossed legs. “It’s quite childish if you ask me.”

“Sorry, I guess I got used to it,” Takumi sighed. “I sat like this back in Hoshido.”

Takumi looked at Leo before laughing a bit.

“Who are you to insult how I sit,” Takumi pointed to Leo who immediately looked down.

He was sitting with his right leg crossing over his left knee. It was the sitting position his body naturally went to (as was Takumi’s). Many people used to say that it was quite feminine and that he should stop doing it. However, Leo highly disagreed that only women were allowed to sit like that or men weren’t allowed for that matter.

“I’ll have you know that _plenty_ of people sit like this,” Leo countered, casually turning the page of his book, even if he hadn’t actually read it yet. “Only children sit like _that_.”

“Geez, it’s not like there’s a certain way to sit for children or anything,” Takumi scoffed, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

“Yes, but you can’t deny how foolish you’d look sitting at a dining table like that,” Leo smirked, smoothing the page between his fingers.

“For god's sake, are we seriously arguing about how we sit?” Takumi groaned.

The two sat in silence after realization. Were they that immature...or that concerned about how they sat? Even though the whole argument was practically pointless, Leo had found it quite entertaining.

Leo couldn’t help but laugh a bit, quickly skim reading his page, before looking back at Takumi.

“I believe we were,” Leo sighed. “However, no matter how foolish it was, we cannot deny that I won.”

“Since when did _you_ win anything?”

“Since that bickering we just had,” Leo turned to the next page again.

“Are you implying that you’ve never won _before_ that?” Takumi asked, turning the page in his book as well.

Leo turned slightly pink from embarrassment, but luckily the other boy was glancing down at his page, missing it.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve accomplished many things,” Leo pressed his lips together, gently playing with the corner of the book.

“Like winning an argument about sitting positions?”

“Hm, I see you’ve admitted that I won,” Leo’s smug grin came back to his face.

“Even if you won, it was still stupid nonetheless,” Takumi exclaimed, skim reading one of the other pages.

Leo gently closed the book he had been reading. It had been about divine weapons. It was extremely interesting and Leo would probably bring it to his chambers that night.

“Have you learned anything from that book you’ve been skim reading?” Leo asked, changing the subject hopefully subtly.

“I didn’t skim read everything,” Takumi hissed, closing the red book in his hands. “And yes, I did learn from reading.”

“What is the book about?” Leo questioned, believing to have not read the certain book in the younger boy’s hands.

“Lobsters,” Takumi said with much hesitation.

“Stop looking at me like that! It’s not weird!”

“Why did that book catch your eye?” Leo wondered why a book about lobsters had interested the Hoshidan. Was it something they did back in Hoshido?

“It’s nothing much,” Takumi explained. “Just reminded me of someone.”

Before Leo could ask who the ‘someone’ was, Takumi quickly continued, “So what’s your book about?”

“The divine weapons.” Takumi suddenly seemed very intrigued and curious, much to Leo’s content.

The divine weapons consisted of special, legendary, sacred weapons only of use to those with dragon blood in them. The weapons choose who their wielder or owner will be. Leo remembered witnessing Xander get chosen by the sword, Siegfried. It was a moment no one could forget in Nohr. The sword had been located somewhere near the Nohrian borders. When the merchants who had discovered it brought it to the king, the sword had been magically pulled towards the crown prince. Leo couldn’t hide the amazement and astonishment on his face when that happened. To imagine, a divine weapon choosing you. It seemed almost impossible for Leo to even picture him holding any divine weapon. All he had were tomes and magic.

“Which one have you read about?” Takumi asked, combing his hair with his fingers.

“I read about Siegfried. More so skimmed through it,” Leo explained, “However, I was reading about the sword Raijinto.”

“Katana,” Takumi corrected him.

“Yes,” Leo continued, “the Hoshidan royal family have it.”

“It’s very powerful,” Takumi breathed, looking at the floor as if he was remembering a moment. “It can destroy foes so easily.”

“Interesting,” Leo murmured. “The katana can bend or channel lightning, correct?”

“Yeah,” Takumi nodded his head. “My- The king, Sumeragi currently wields it. The Raijinto will undoubtedly choose m- the crown prince Ryoma next.”

“My brother Xander was chosen by the sword Siegfried,” Leo explained.

Leo already felt so behind against his brother in sword fighting. Having the Siegfried only made the gap between them bigger. His brother easily won against anyone (including Leo) in a spar with the divine weapon in his hand. He already had had a huge advantage even before the sword chose him to be it’s wielder. Now he seemed to be at a level unreachable and impossible to beat.

Leo didn’t know if he was jealous of his brother for being picked by the sword. However he could tell even before that the sword would choose him. It was Xander after all. He excelled in all and was the perfect crown prince for Nohr. If the weapon didn’t land in his hands, that would be more confusing. This did not stop Leo from feeling a twinge of anger whenever he saw his older brother training with it. It made Leo want to practice in magic harder in hopes to actually become as powerful as a divine weapon swordsman.

When Leo first took Brynhildr in his hands, he felt magic surging throughout his body, as if it had become a part of him. The tome was undoubtedly more powerful than any other tomes that Leo had used in his lifetime. It granted him great power, but involved more precision and practice, not that he minded. At first, Leo thought that feeling was sort of special. Different. Like a divine weapon choosing someone. Leo believed that Brynhildr was what made _him_ special.

His father was quick to break these hopeful feelings though. He constantly told Leo that his skills in magic weren’t anywhere close to nearing Xander’s skills in everything. He would usually tell Leo about all the powerful soldiers from different kingdoms that he’d verse in the future and how he’d have to slaughter them all with his tome, merciless and cruelly. His own father made Brynhildr sound more like a hellish weapon than what Leo had initially thought was his own unique, powerful weapon.

“Did you witness it,” Takumi asked. “I mean did you see it choose him?”

Leo nodded his head, the memory of that fateful moment being one of his clearest. “Yes.”

“What was it like?” Takumi shuffled a bit in his seat.

Of course Takumi wasn’t old enough to have seen the Hoshidan King receive his mighty katana. And on another note, he wouldn’t have been able to anyway, since only the royal family of Hoshido probably would’ve seen the event play out.

“The sword seemed so dull and lifeless at first. However, it started to move a bit on it’s own,” Leo explained. The sword was black and grey, almost as if the world around it was draining the colour out of it. Leo couldn’t believe that the sword in front of him was a divine weapon. After all, nothing had really looked special or breathtaking about it. Then, it moved, sensing it’s next owner.

“Siegfried flew across the room and landed into my brother’s hand,” Leo continued. “And suddenly, the sword burst into bright purple flames. The sword was no longer dull and Siegfried had chosen Xander.”

Leo remembered how amazing the sight was. The black blade was adorned and surrounded by purple flames, unharmful to Xander who seemed just as shocked as everyone else. King Garon gave an approving nod to his son, impressed that he managed to get a divine weapon.

“That sounded amazing to see,” Takumi exclaimed in awe.

“It was,” Leo breathed out a heavy sigh. “Maybe you’ll get to witness someone get chosen by a divine weapon someday.”

“Yeah...maybe,” Takumi smiled, looking at the side, thinking about something- more like someone.

Leo wondered if he was ever going to witness something like that ever again. The thought of witnessing not one, but _two_ people getting chosen by a divine weapon seemed impossible. Nowadays however, the world just loved proving Leo wrong and going against his logic.

“Okay, your turn to tell me what you learned about lobsters,” Leo said, still wondering why the book interested the Hoshidan boy so much.

“Hm. Okay, apparently,” Takumi began, “they’re cannibals. They just eat whatever food they can find and if it’s another lobster, they’ll still eat them.”

Well, that was news to Leo’s ears. To think that seemingly harmless creatures in the sea would viciously slaughter one another for food.

“They can also grow back claws if they’re ever amputated,” Takumi continued. “Though it takes a while.”

Who knew that lobsters seemed to be actual strong animals?

Takumi swiftly put the red book back where he had found it on one of the many tall bookshelves. Leo noticed that it wasn’t very high up. He knew that the book could’ve just interested the other, but he found that it was entertaining teasing the other boy.

“I see you’re not tall enough to reach the other books,” Leo pointed out with a teasing tone. He walked over to the other who simply scoffed.

“Remind me to put all the interesting books over here,” Leo placed his hand on a tall shelf that he knew Takumi couldn’t reach, even if he tried.

“Why would I remind you about another torture technique?” Takumi mumbled, fixing a few uneven placed books on the shelf.

“You’re right,” Leo sighed. “I’ll leave this one for you.”

Leo pulled out a book from one of the taller compartments of the wooden shelf. He passed it over to the shorter male, a smirk present on his face.

“Nohrian History?” Takumi groaned. “I told you how boring it was already! Stop torturing me!”

Takumi flopped back onto one of the chairs as Leo chuckled a bit.

“Nohrian History is interesting in some cases,” Leo assured him, gesturing for him to read.

“Some cases,” Takumi sighed, staring at the black book now on his lap.

“Luckily, most of the Nohrian history books aren’t on the shelves you can reach,” Leo smiled.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Takumi scoffed, still sitting in his cross legged position. Then again, Leo still sat with one leg crossed over the other, smile still present.

The two spent most of the day in the library, arguing, laughing, reading and talking. They had been nowhere to be found for the majority of the day and the servants were beginning to think that they were murdered.

To be honest, Leo hadn’t had this much fun in such a long time. Usually it was just quiet and peaceful in the library. Although Leo still enjoyed when it was quiet, he couldn’t help but feel a mix of emotions around the Hoshidan boy. He felt the need to have him by his side when sitting in their strange natural ways of sedentary in the peaceful room.

He felt so happy and warm, when he usually felt cold and stiff. It gave him a feeling in his heart that he didn’t want to let go. Leo was told constantly that emotions that revolved around happiness and love were meaningless and considered weak. He was told so much about how dangerous it was to let his enemies see him in that state. That it was a feeling that could get him killed or considered pathetic in the future.

Despite these facts, Leo didn’t feel ashamed or pathetic and weak. He felt feelings that he wanted to keep. To continue feeling in his heart. He _wanted_ to feel happy and bliss. Leo realized that he didn’t want to be deprived of his emotions any longer. However, how could he do what he wanted when his father stood in his way? He wasn’t of any importance to the king. Besides the fact that he was an honorable Mage, the king could kill him in a heartbeat for defying him.

Cold, dead eyes pierced through Leo’s soul, reminding him of how deadly the king of Nohr really was. Yet he wanted to capture the feeling he felt around Takumi. He wanted the light of the other to consume him, to grant him happiness.

But how could he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Divine weapon head cannon guys!
> 
> SPOILER : Foreshadowing of how Takumi got Fujin Yumi...and how Leo finds out Takumi's a prince. (I know I'm spoiling my story, but CloudyLightning probably would've seen this one coming anyway)
> 
> Also, Leo, I am guilty of sitting cross legged like Takumi does. And also... You can feel happy and in love! Pls, don't do anything stupid tomato prince!
> 
> Thanks for reading! And you all know who reminded Takumi of a lobster ;)


	17. Close, Yet So Far Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter focusing on how the kidnapping of Takumi has changed the Hoshidan siblings' views, thoughts and perspectives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for not updating for so long! :(
> 
> I had to be taken to the hospital for a few days (I'm not really gonna go into the details on why or anything), so I apologize once again for the inconvenience. 
> 
> Well here is a Hoshidan chapter. Enjoy and tell me if you guys saw this chapter coming or was shocked to find out it was for the Hoshidan babies!

Corrin spent most of her days thinking.

It wasn’t like anyone could not spend a day like so anyway. But in her case, she usually found herself wondering. Wondering what would’ve happened if things went differently. Sometimes people worried about her because she seemed to stare into space just...wondering. Of course, she would never change from her eccentric aura, but something within her felt different.

Corrin didn’t necessarily think it was a bad change. The kidnapping of her brother made her feel a lot of emotions. From anger to sadness. However, this change was more so a feeling of wariness and caution. After what happened to Takumi you couldn’t blame her for being far more cautious when she walked in the village or more protective over her other siblings in worry.

Knowing that she just started feeling more cautious, made Corrin realize that she wasn’t all that observant or wary to begin with. If hadn’t been for Takumi’s disappearance, Corrin would’ve remained so carefree. Not that being carefree was necessarily a bad thing, but she herself could’ve gotten hurt...or worse.

Those were once her thoughts, but now they have altered and shifted in a way. Instead of feeling this strong pull to not do anything that involved people in general, Corrin strived to earn the trust of her people and vice versa. She wanted to be unafraid when she walked through the town square. She wanted to feel nothing but friendship and a strong bond when she waved at her people.

Corrin knew that the reason why she was so determined to do this was because Takumi was taken by Nohr. Her little brother. A fire burned in Corrin. Her mind was set. She was going to show Nohr how Hoshido would be stronger than the dark kingdom ever was. How Hoshidans shared a bond more powerful than any Mage they threw at them.

Corrin spent most of her days thinking. And not in the way most people spent their days thinking. She thought about reuniting her family. She thought about strengthening the bond between the Royal family and their people. She thought about her brother and the siblings she still had with her. She thought about a lot of things. They were good and bad. Light and dark.

Yet she spent most of her day thinking them and proceeding to take action from them.

}}}-----------------------|}

Sakura spent most of her days hoping.

She knew how meaningless it meant at this point. Despite that, she still hoped.

She wanted her brother to return. To no longer feel the pain that Sakura could imagine just by looking at the horrid things they had received from the Nohrian King as proof of Takumi’s torture.

Even at a young age, Sakura could notice the way her brother had felt. His insecurities and his endless self doubt. However, she tried her best to show him that he was an amazing older brother in her eyes. She noticed him and spent time with him to show him how loved he was.

Because of this, the two were rather close, both enjoying watching cherry blossoms fall from the soft breeze and both despising the Hoshidan banquets that were held. They once hid in a closet to get away from the party.

Nowadays, Sakura would watch cherry blossom petals fall by herself. Sometimes the calm wind that blew made her feel content and relaxed. Other times it made her more upset. The feeling of regret consumed her on some occasions. The scene played out over and over again. Haunting Sakura. Why she couldn’t do anything. Anything to help her brother. All she did was run. Run like a coward.

She ran to safety, leaving her brother in danger. Sakura couldn’t help but think and feel that way. And truly she didn’t think she’d stop feeling that way. Not until they got him back.

Her healing magic had progressed which made her feel happy again. Her mentors had mentioned that she might be a magic prodigy since she was excelling so quickly in such a young age. Helping and healing others’ wounds gave her a sense of satisfaction and hope. The hope she needed to feel for her brother in Nohr. Whenever she healed someone, gave them light back into their dying eyes, she felt like a little bit of herself was healing as well.

Those were the good days when Sakura hoped. Other days, Sakura couldn’t help but wish Takumi was never her older brother. Or that she wasn’t as close to him as she was/is. That way, she believed that it would hurt less. That there wouldn’t be as much to heal in her heart and mind. But Sakura knew how selfish she was being. To even think those thoughts was selfish and disrespectful.

She needed to feel the pain to know just how much Takumi meant to her as a sibling. So, instead of wallowing in negative emotions, Sakura turned a new leaf and hoped. She made herself believe that Takumi would come back. She helped others heal from the event and others helped her heal from her own wounds and scars.

Sakura hoped. Hoped one day she’d be able to watch cherry blossom petals swirl through the wind once more with Takumi.

}}}-----------------------|}

Ryoma spent most of his days remembering.

The high prince remembered the moments when his family was all together, laughing and smiling. When they were complete.

Now their family was incomplete. A jigsaw puzzle unfinished. A book missing pages.

And now Ryoma felt as if part of himself was incomplete. Never to be brought back to him until their brother returned to the kingdom awaiting him.

Things got more hectic by the day. A few Hoshidan traders were attacked by bandits and thugs, having their merchandise and items stolen. And the few that were left behind were damaged beyond repair or useless. Ryoma remembered the days when things weren’t as tense as things were between the two kingdoms. When Nohr didn’t threaten war against Hoshido.

He remembered that if it were those days, Takumi wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped to anger Hoshido into fighting. If hadn’t been for Ryoma’s foolishness and his own blind eye, his younger brother would’ve been fine. Unharmed and not tainted by Nohr.

The thought that it could have been Sakura made Ryoma feel much worse that the second prince was taken for her. He did it to protect Sakura. Something Ryoma ultimately failed to do. He couldn’t protect either one of them. And remembering this made Ryoma realize how he wanted to protect everyone he loved and cherished. He needed to make up for his mistake. He couldn’t risk losing someone else he cared about to Nohrian hands.

From that moment on, Ryoma remembered what his brother taught him, even if Takumi didn’t know Ryoma was learning from him.

The crown prince knew that they would get his brother back. Instead of remembering him, he will someday stand by their side again.

}}}-----------------------|}

Hinoka spent most of her days training.

Although plenty of trainees and new recruits trained hard every day, none would ever work as hard as the warrior Hoshidan Princess. Sometimes she picked up her naginata when she was stressed, too fed up with everyone telling her to act more lady like. Other times she fought when she was upset, unable to hold back whatever emotions consumed her. Rarely, she trained for the fun of it. For the feeling of using her arms, the feeling of the sun beaming down on her as sweat dripped down from her forehead. The feeling of the slight breeze that managed to cool her off.

But most of the time, she trained because she was angry, impatient with her father, her mother and even her brother, Ryoma. She felt angered because _they_ were so patient with the matter at hand.

At first, Hinoka learned how to fight better with the naginata because she thought that the army could put her to use. That she would be the one to embrace their little brother after storming Nohr and bringing him home. This was not the case though and Hinoka waited anxiously for the day to come. The day when the king announced their attack on Nohr and they would become a happy family again.

That day never came though and Hinoka knew that it was never coming. So she was going to take matters into her own hands. She was going to get Takumi back herself. With her father’s consent or not. She’d train hard with her weapon and she would ace riding Pegasi. All so she could succeed in her solo mission.

Hinoka didn’t care if she had to kill a thousand Nohrian soldiers to get him back. She would. She vowed to bring Takumi back to the Hoshidan hands that loved him.

As she trained day and night, people worried about her health. They didn’t think that she was strong enough. Strong enough to endure days full of nonstop training. She couldn’t help but glare at the worried looks given to her. She didn’t need them to feel worried over her. She need them to be worried over the boy whose blood stained the cloth, the scissors and the brush.

After spending countless days training, Hinoka had a new revelation. She had never really paid as much mind to her brother as he thought she had. When Takumi had asked her to teach him how to use a naginata she willingly agreed. However that same day, she ended up helping out Sakura and her koto instead. Hinoka completely forgot about her little brother in favour of her younger sister. It stung realizing how ignorant she had been.

She had promised Takumi that she would try peach picking with him. Hinoka had to end up canceling on him to help Corrin and her studies. Back then Hinoka didn’t think that it was entirely her fault. Her father was the one who told her that proper princesses should have good studies. She was just being a good older sister and helping Corrin out.

However, now she realized how stupid she was. Corrin had said that she could’ve asked Mikoto or Ryoma for help, but _Hinoka_ was the one who insisted. She chose Corrin over quality time with her brother.

Now she wanted him back more than ever. She realized she didn’t spend enough time with him. She didn’t pay enough attention to him. It made Hinoka want to beat herself up for how terrible of an older sister she was.

Hinoka gritted her teeth, swinging her naginata as hard as she could. She watched, satisfied as the wooden dummy toppled to the ground, covered in slices and deep cuts. It wasn’t a dummy in her fiery eyes though. It was a Nohrian soldier.

_She’d bring him back. That was Hinoka’s promise to Takumi that she wouldn’t break._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I had no clue what I was going to do for this chapter, but then I started one sentence and this chapter concept came to mind. Sorry for no dialogue, but I thought it gave it more effect???
> 
> This was my last pre written chapter. :( 
> 
> Looks like I have a lot of writing to do! <3


	18. Casting a Spell (To Grow Trees)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo finds himself growing a lot of trees. He also discovers something he didn't outright admit before in his head... His feelings for Takumi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy did this one take forever to write.
> 
> When you miss having pre written chapters :'(
> 
> Well, anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter! I think the next chapter may have a one year time skip? But I'm not that sure yet

  
Leo took a deep breath, taking in the vast terrain around him. He could sense every living thing surrounding him, preparing him for his attack. With another deep breath, Leo finally whispered the incantation on the pages open in front of him (though he already memorized them), releasing the burst of magic to it’s destination.

A lively tree sprouted from the ground, growing strongly and healthily green. The leaves were vibrant making the plain area surrounding it seem duller than before, if it were even possible.

Leo smiled at the sight of the tree he magically grew. However, he knew in lands like Nohr, a tree like this was hardly going to last long without proper care. It would most likely die in either a few days or weeks. Months if it were lucky.

Sighing, Leo closed Brynhildr holding the book closely to his chest. _Enough practice for the day_.

It had been a few hours of Leo practicing new spells and incantations. A few worked, a few didn’t. A few were almost too powerful to control and a few almost appeared to do nothing.

Leo wiped the sweat off his forehead as he walked through the silent hallways. Silence that didn’t last long when he walked past Takumi’s door. Elise’s voice was heard in the room and also Camilla’s. _What were they doing?_

Politely, Leo knocked on the door. Instead of someone telling him to enter as he expected, Camilla swung open the door, smiling when she saw it was Leo.

“My little brother!” Camilla pulled him into a hug, both unnecessary and unwanted. “It is so nice seeing you again.”

“It feels like it’s been forever since I got to see you and hug you,” Camilla continued, frowning a bit at the thought.

“You saw me during breakfast,” Leo countered. “And you gave me a hug to wake me up.”

“Ah yes, you do tend to be grumpy in the morning,” Camilla smiled.

“What do you mean?” Leo raised an eyebrow.

“He’s grumpy, but really tired too!” Elise added. “A nice hug usually wakes him up! Or makes him more grumpy!”

“I don’t believe that I’m that tired or grumpy in the morning,” Leo sighed.

“You walk around the castle sometimes wearing your clothes inside out,” Takumi pointed out. “Maybe that’s a side effect from how tired and grumpy you are.”

Leo’s traitorous sisters nodded their heads in agreement.

“Leo stays up most nights reading,” Camilla mused. “He never gets enough sleep nowadays.”

Before Leo could speak in order to defend himself, Elise jumped up, holding a few papers in her hands.

“Look, Leo!” Elise beamed. “Takumi and I were drawing!”

She skipped over to her brother, smile still present on her face.

She handed Leo one sheet of paper from her hands.

“These ones are mine,” Elise said, proudly.

Of course, the princess’ drawings were quite messy and the people’s proportions weren’t really correct. Leo wasn’t sure if his younger sister drew a person’s face or a shoe. And when you mistaken a drawing of a face for a shoe (or vice versa) you know that the artist clearly wasn’t the best.

Leo wasn’t sure whether he would tell Elise the truth or lie.

“What do you think?” Elise asked, seeming happy and proud of her handiwork.

Lying it was.

“These are good Elise,” Leo nearly sighed in relief when he saw how Elise gleefully jumped around towards Takumi.

“If you think mine are good, Leo,” she grinned. “You should see Takumi’s. They’re magnificent!”

“They’re not that go-” Takumi began before Elise lifted up the drawings.

Takumi had been practicing using the quill during his endless amounts of free time. Having learned from his constant mistakes, he started becoming better at drawing with one. When Elise wanted to try drawing with him, he actually was quite content in finally having the chance to draw out some of his fondest memories in Hoshido.

The one Elise gave Leo was a drawing that he knew he had to draw out while he could still remember every slightest detail.

“This is actually,” Leo seemed to stare at the piece of paper in awe and disbelief. As if Takumi didn’t actually draw them. _Wait, did that mean that Leo didn’t expect Takumi to be good at art at all? Insulting_.

“This is actually amazing,” Leo couldn’t help but smile as his eyes scanned over the piece of art over and over again.

The drawing seemed to be inspired off of something simple, yet at first glance it seemed undeniably beautiful. Skillfully drawn trees lined along a path, petals falling from flowers that seemed to bloom on them. Leo had never seen trees like that before, which made him curious to know what they were. From what he could imagine from the illustration, the trees Takumi drew looked nothing like the trees Brynhildr could create or the poor excuse of flora Nohr had to offer.

“They’re called…,” Elise brought a finger to her chin. “What were they called again? Do you remember Camilla?”

“I don’t recall,” Camilla gently ruffled Elise’s hair when she pouted in silent disappointment.

“They’re cherry blossom trees,” Takumi explained, purposely not mentioning the Hoshidan name in fear of the three royals slaughtering his ears and language.

“Blossoms! As in flowers? What colour?” Elise asked, already excited.

“They’re pink,” Takumi immediately covered his ears, prepared for Elise’s happy squeals.

“Pink! Now I really want to see them!” Elise exclaimed.

Leo still seemed to be distracted by Takumi’s drawing, somehow ignoring Elise’s excitement and somehow still having his ears function properly.

“Where is this?” Leo asked, finally looking away from the picture.

“Hm?” Takumi moved his hands away from his ears, looking up at the Nohrian Prince.

“Where is this in Hoshido?” Leo repeated.

“It’s kind of a small grotto filled with cherry blossom trees that my parents had found one day during a walk,” Takumi explained. “They saw these trees and decided to name my younger sister after the blossoms that bloomed on them.”

Takumi wanted to remember this place. And the trees obviously. But Leo highly doubted that pink trees would really ever fade from your memory. The drawing was stunning, but it gave off the feeling of… Sadness. Almost as if the picture carried something more meaningful with it.

“Sister?” Elise gasped, shaking Takumi. “You didn’t tell me you had a sister!”

“You n- never asked!” Takumi looked over at Camila in need of assistance.

The princess sighed knowingly. “Elise, you’re going to hurt the poor boy.”

“Hurt? I’m so sorry!” Elise cried, immediately feeling guilty. “Where are your injuries? I’m practicing healing magic, so I can help.”

“Healing magic?” Takumi seemed slightly surprised to hear this. Now Sakura and Elise would practically become best friends at sight.

“Yeah,” Elise smiled proudly, “Leo’s been working so hard at his magic, I thought I’d try some too.”

Suddenly her smile faded to a defeated pout, “But it’s so hard!”

The blonde princess flopped onto the floor, lying down on her stomach.

“Takumi?” Elise slowly sat back up, a hopeful smile creeping onto her face.

“Hm?”

“Let’s style your hair again!” Elise clapped.

“Wh- what? No!” Takumi nearly screamed. _Not this again_.

“I think it would be fun,” Camilla laughed. “C’mon Takumi. It’s a compliment. My dear sister, Elise is just saying that your hair is nice.”

“Besides, she needs something to cheer her up,” Camilla added, “After all, healing magic really takes a toll on her.”

“B- but…” Takumi began, but there was no way he was going to win against the princesses. In a quieter voice he sighed, “fine.”

“Yay! Camilla is really good with cool braids and stuff!” Elise explained, as if she was trying to reassure or encourage Takumi.

 ~~While the the princesses were torturing Takumi~~ \- while the princesses were styling Takumi’s hair again, Leo was still holding the paper in his hand. Something was bothering him and Leo didn’t know what it was after looking at Takumi’s well drawn art. And it kept giving him the feeling of needing to do something.

His preferred hand when using magic tingled, almost as if it was a sign from Brynhildr itself to use magic as a solution to- what? He was going to find a solution to a problem he didn’t even know. Once again, the universe decided to tell Leo that the impossible was possible and that his useless logical thoughts were more useless than he had perceived them to be before.

“You can take it if you want,” Takumi exclaimed. It took a few seconds for the Nohrian Prince to realize that Takumi was addressing him.

“Pardon?”

“The drawing,” Takumi explained. “You’ve been holding it for a while now and you haven’t put it down yet.”

Did he really do that?

“I’m sorry, I was just lost in thought,” Leo shook his head. “Here.”

Leo handed the drawing back to its artist.

“To be honest,” Leo couldn’t hide a small smirk. “I didn’t expect you to be decent in the visual arts.”

“Tch. Typical for you to think,” Takumi pouted. “I’ll have you know that your sisters had more faith in me.”

As if on cue, Camilla and Elise shot Leo a wink in perfect sync before continuing to comb and braid the long silver hair of the Hoshidan.

“I apologize if it's rude to ask, but why did you want to remember that?” Leo glanced back at the drawing. In the past, Takumi had explained that he wanted to draw memories of objects from Hoshido that he wanted to remember and cherish. So why did he want to remember that grotto? Even with the smallest of details fresh in his mind?

“It was just a special place for Sakura and I,” Takumi smiled, softly. “It was the place where my parents decided what to name her and besides, I don’t want to forget about it.”

“Do you wish to see cherry blossom trees again?” Leo asked.

“Yeah,” Takumi smiled again, remembering a fond memory.

And that’s when an idea sparked in Leo’s mind.

Before Takumi could ask why Leo had that stupid look on his face, Elise tugged a bit to hard when she was tying up his hair.

“Ow,” Takumi dead panned as Elise smiled apologetically when she tied his hair. _Why did he agree to this again?_

}}}-------------------|}

Leo stayed up in the library extra late that night. He was going through tomes and books fixated and focused on the studies of magic.

He sighed, flipping the page to another useless paragraph of another useless book. It was a stupid idea and was most likely impossible to achieve. Especially for a Nohrian Mage.

 _Create a cherry blossom tree_.

What on earth was he thinking? That was right, he wasn’t thinking. He was letting his heart decide instead of his brain.

Leo could just give up. Call it a day and pretend he didn’t even attempt the crazy idea. But for some reason, he couldn’t. He felt like a fire was burning within him, urging him to continue an endless quest. All for that Hoshidan hostage, whose smile seemed to brighten up Leo’s dull world.

And it was all Takumi’s fault. His stupid smile and amber eyes. That laugh that seemed to make Leo want to smile as well. It was all his fault because it hurt Leo too when he saw how sad the boy was. And seeing him so defeated and torn only made Leo want to piece him back together in order to have him smiling again and feeding Leo’s life with colour. It was simply all his fault.

Now Leo’s mind was set and apparently focused on somehow finding a way to magically sprout a pink tree.

He closed the book, groaning in frustration.

Leo had been in the library for hours, finding absolutely nothing helpful. He stretched his stiff muscles, completely beat.

While practicing his magic, he had managed to create trees of different kinds. Once he had cast a bright orange autumn tree to grow. Before, Leo didn’t think much of it as he was focusing more on if he actually managed to cast the spell correctly. However, now it interested the prince as to whether or not he could control what type of tree would grow. It all sounded too stupid to be even considered as something to really research, but the thought kept creeping back into his head or nagging at him.

After hundreds of training sessions, Leo knew that he could control the size of the tree, always casting a reasonable height. But he never focused on controlling the type of tree grown. Obviously, he wouldn’t have since having a different type of tree as the attack never really seemed to strike a difference in battle for him.

Leo finally stood up, pacing a bit to warm up his legs that hadn’t been used for so long. The Nohrian Prince quietly walked out of the library, making sure nobody who would happen to be in the hallways saw him. The last thing he needed was for some servant to lecture him about having a good night's sleep. Or even worse, have them tell Camilla all about his little library adventure, proving his lack of shut eye and grumpy/tired attitude in the morning.

The blond traveled quickly down the dark hallways, trying his best not to make a sound. No one really seemed to be awake at this hour, which gave Leo a bit more reassurance as he tiptoed back to his chambers.

He thought he was safe until he nearly ran into Xander as he turned a corner. He quickly glared at his older brother, walking quickly past him when the crown prince opened his mouth as if to say something. He was still angry with the other for hiding information that was most definitely important. Xander was just following orders, but that didn’t make it right. Leo hoped that one day his brother would realize that the man they called their King was very different from the man they once knew when they were younger, happy and carefree. When it felt like their father truly loved them.

The second prince had so many things to say to his brother, yet all he wanted to do was walk away from him.

Leo made it to his room safely, closing the door behind him. He had not expected to see his brother in the hallways, especially in this hour. Taking a deep breath, Leo laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He couldn’t keep avoiding and giving his brother the cold shoulder. He would eventually have to face him and tell him how angry he felt.

}}}-------------------|}

Another green tree.

This all seemed hopeless.

Leo sighed, slowly lowering his outstretched hand that had yet again cast a failed experiment. It was the 50th time. The 50th time it hadn’t worked. That was right, Leo was counting.

He was attempting to envision it in his head as if it would somehow control the magic that ran through his body to his fingertips. Closing his eyes, he imagined the pink cherry blossom trees.

He recited the spell again, magic pouring out of his extended hand. The sound of a tree shooting tall from the ground caused Leo to open his eyes a bit.

Green. It was green again. Not even a different kind of tree. It had been the same exact one over and over again. It wasn’t making any sense and Leo felt like screaming.

He closed Brynhildr and began to walk back into the castle, feeling completely useless and unaccomplished. He was nowhere close to creating a cherry blossom tree and had failed miserably that day. All he wanted was a break. A quiet undisturbed break.

Unfortunately, just as Leo was about to enter the castle once again, a voice called for him. He immediately felt anger that he never thought he’d really feel towards his brother.

“Leo, I’d like to speak with you,” Xander continued to talk, even though all Leo wanted was for him to shut up.

“I have nothing to talk about with you,” Leo didn’t even bother to turn around to face the other prince. He already knew how hurt his brother probably looked now.

“I’d like to know what’s wrong, brother,” the high prince explained.

Leo didn’t know if it was his previous frustration with casting trees or his anger towards his brother. Or if it was both. But he finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“What’s wrong?” Leo snapped, still refusing to look at Xander. “You lied to me! And your continuing to do so.”

“Leo,” Xander’s voice was softer. “You do know that I care about you. You’re getting too close to that boy.”

How dare he? Leo didn’t want to hear anymore of this from his older brother. He finally started to care about someone other than his family. He was finally opening his heart more, even if it was with a Hoshidan hostage. Leo would gladly admit that, yes he was getting too close to Takumi. Yet he didn’t care if he was.

“If you really do care about me,” Leo said in a much calmer voice, “Rethink how you see our father.”

_If you do care about me, let me be happy._

With that Leo walked off, unsure whether his words would affect Xander in any way. After all, the crown prince could just continue to be blind towards the truth. The truth that Leo and everyone knew all too well was something nobody really wanted to admit.

No matter how angry he felt, the second prince somehow felt good in a sense for finally letting out the words and emotions he had been keeping inside him to his elder brother. Despite feeling a weight lift off his shoulder, he knew that he and his brother weren't exactly through yet. Knowing Xander, he had had a lot more to say to him before he walked off.

Leo was going to his quarters and was going to read. That would clear his mind a bit and that would calm him down or relax him more than anything else.

“I think he’ll love it!” Elise’s voice was muffled by the closed door, but Leo could still clearly hear what she had said. “I’ll go give it to him now!”

Elise swung open the door, humming a cheerful tune as she closed it behind her. She walked along the hallway before excitedly catching sight of Leo. In her hand was more paper, so she did manage to spark his curiosity.

“Here is a thank you gift from Takumi!” Elise giggled, handing over the pieces of paper. “Read it when you get back to your room.”

The bubbly princess flashed one more big smile before skipping away.

Leo raised an eyebrow, staring at the papers now in his hands. Deciding it was worth the enormous amount of free time he had now, Leo recommenced his journey to his private quarters. Upon reaching his destination, the blond read what was on the papers his sister had handed over to him.

 _A thank you gift?_ He wondered what it could be.

A gift that came in the form of a letter. Leo had always said that words carried an enormous amount of meaning and heart. That was probably why everyone continuously shoveled books on him for his birthday. That and also the fact that he enjoyed reading on top of that anyway.

Leo began to read what Takumi had written for him:

 _The water lilies sat on top of the crystal waters, pink petals shining like opals upon a sea of diamonds_.

That sentence seemed familiar, so Leo continued to read.

_In the midst of the iridescent spring, two koi fish calmly swam around. Each owned scales, varying from the bright and vibrant reds and oranges and the calm and balanced black and white. But both couldn’t be any more different._

_One enjoyed swimming when the sun lit the whole pond, letting his scales reflect the warm sunlight. The other stayed in the shade of the lily pads or other plants around the waters, as he enjoyed the cooler waters. While one swam to his heart’s content in the day and dawn, the other swam preferably in the night and shade._

_The two never came across one another. Until one day, as the sun rose, one koi fish injured himself, not used to swimming in the dark. He was left by anyone who came across him, believing that with his injuries he was better left for the dead._

_Despite that, the second koi fish aided him. He knew that even with those injuries, he could help the other live longer. After helping him, the healing koi fish wanted to thank the other for persisting and tending his wounds._

_So one sunny morning, he brought his friend to swim along the lit pond. At first, he didn’t quite enjoy the warmer waters, having gotten used to the shade and dark. But as they continued to journey through the crystal waters, he realized how beautiful the spring really was._

_And now, to this day, the two koi fish swim side by side, scales glistening in the light as they dove under the water lilies that grew a float_.

On another page, there was an illustration. Two koi fish swimming side by side. Once again, the drawing was beautiful, drawn to the very last detail, each scale properly shaded and defined. The fish looked so different from how Leo had pictured them to be. In a good way.

At the bottom of the story, Takumi had left a small note.

 _This was a retelling of my sister, Corrin’s story. She always had an active imagination and told this story to Sakura and I when we were little. I wanted to share it with you and I hope you didn’t find it weird or anything. Thank you Leo. Even if you don’t believe you deserve my thanks, I’m thanking you_.

Stubborn as always. Leo smiled, placing the papers on his desk. Sighing once more, he put hand to his heart. He felt...happy. He felt a mix of emotions. Like he was filled with so much warmth and joy. What was this feeling? And why did his heart feel like it was going to burst from his chest?

Leo continued to smile, glancing back at Takumi’s little thank you present. Now, Leo was determined to fulfill his plan. He wouldn’t let whatever he was feeling go to waste. If his heart was telling him to continue, he was going to listen to it. Something he was still learning to do.

}}}-------------------|}

“Prince Leo?” Silas waved a hand in front of the prince. “Are you alright? You look like you're about to fall asleep on the table.”

The prince and servant were seated at a fine table. Silas insisted that he stand, but Leo ordered for him to sit. Honestly, sometimes it scared Leo how selfless and unselfish servants could be. The least they could do was look out more for themselves instead of always thinking about their master.

“Ever the polite one, Silas,” Leo yawned, stretching. “I’m fine. I just stayed up late last night.”

“I saw you practicing magic earlier this morning,” Silas explained. “You were casting the same spell over and over again, so might I ask what you were trying to achieve?”

“Ah, well you see I am attempting the most absurd idea that I have ever created in my head,” Leo sighed, rubbing his temples.

“Would that involve growing a tree?” Silas raised an eyebrow. “In _Nohr_?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Leo crossed a leg over the other.

“Well… If you need any help,” Silas shuffled a bit in his seat. “I have some tree seeds.”

“Tree seeds?” This time it was Leo who raised an eyebrow.

“Call it a strange hobby when I was younger,” Silas smiled. “Just be happy I didn’t go for bugs instead.”

“Okay,” Leo brushed off how strange the collection sounded. He couldn’t judge. For the past few days he’s been trying to grow a pink tree. “What kinds of trees do you have?”

“Surprisingly,” Silas chuckled a bit, “not that much.”

“I don’t remember most of them,” Silas explained, “but I do remember one.”

“They were called cherry blossom trees. I don't recall what they were named in Hoshido though,” Silas continued. Leo immediately sat straighter in his seat, listening attentively at the hearing of the tree’s name. “Someone gave them to me and told me to grow them when I felt the time was right.”

Silas smiled at the memory. The girl handed him a bunch of little seeds, telling him to grow them someday. She told him to remember her and Silas did in hopes of seeing her again by the lake.

“This might sound a bit odd,” Leo smirked a bit. “But I was actually trying to grow a cherry blossom.”

“Why?” Silas seemed shocked to hear a _Nohrian_ Prince attempt to magically grow a _Hoshidan_ plant.

“I was just interested in seeing one,” Leo lied.

He wasn’t fooling Silas though. The only person who would outright know about cherry blossoms was Takumi. The servant couldn’t stop the big smile that formed on his face. The prince wouldn’t spend countless of nights and days trying to grow a tree because he was simply interested in seeing it. Leo was doing this for Takumi.

“What’s with that huge smile?” Leo asked.

“Nothing,” Silas shook his head, “I’ll give you the cherry blossom seeds.”

“Are you sure?” Leo asked. “They seem to have been given to you from someone special and important to you.”

“She told me to grow them when I thought the time was right,” Silas smiled once again. “If this means Takumi can get to see a cherry blossom tree again, then I believe the time is right.”

The seeds were obviously given to him by someone he cared for or wished to see again, so it really meant a lot for the servant to let them go so willingly. Leo had come to the conclusion that Silas was an all-in-all good person. He had a kind heart and it was a shame that he was just a mere servant for the castle. Nohr needed more people like him walking on the streets or maybe even being knighted.

“Thank you,” Leo said sincerely, “but I never mentioned anything about Takumi.”

“Prince Leo,” Silas nearly dead panned. “You’re not tricking anyone when you say that.”

“Ever the polite one, Silas,” Leo sighed. “I told you before that this was for my own curiosity and benefit.”

“Mm, okay,” Silas stood up, beginning to walk away. “Whatever you say, Prince Leo.”

“Silas,” Leo stood from his seat, quickly following the young servant boy. “You better not be thinking about any idiotic thoughts that involve me.”

After scolding Silas a bit more, Leo finally received the small light brown seeds. He may or may not have considered murdering Silas and his obvious fake innocence when it came to Leo’s anger. However, despite all that, Leo still considered Silas a good person.

Leo held the seeds tightly in his pale palm. This was the key to what Leo was trying to do all along. He grinned from ear to ear. He was one step closer to seeing that beautiful smile on Takumi’s face.

 _Wait_. Did Leo just call his smile beautiful? The prince breathed out a small laugh. He did, didn’t he?

}}}---------------------|}

“Where are you taking me exactly?” Takumi asked. “And why do I have to close my eyes?”

“You’ll see when we get there,” Leo chuckled, leading the shorter to the training yard. “Attempting to ruin the surprise, Takumi?”

“Wha- no!” Takumi felt like punching the smirk off the other’s face that he could sense forming. He didn’t need to see Leo’s face to know how smug he felt nowadays.

“If I smack into something, I’m going to kill you,” Takumi explained as Leo carefully lead the other down the hallways.

“Just trust me,” Leo smirked. He had finally succeeded in growing the tree with the help of Silas. He used a simple growing spell that involved having the seed present.

“Okay… Fine,” Takumi murmured.

As the two made it to the stairs of the castle, Leo realized that he couldn’t exactly have Takumi walk down stairs with his eyes closed.

“I won’t necessarily fall down,” Takumi said after Leo explained the situation. “I mean, what else could you…”

Takumi regretted opening his mouth and he already knew what brilliant idea sparked in Leo’s mind.

“Put me down,” Takumi huffed as Leo carried him down the stairs.

“I will once we get there,” Leo pointed out, annoying the Hoshidan in his arms even more.

“Why do you keep carrying me like this?” Takumi asked, wishing he could open his eyes to glare at the prince.

“Hm. I don’t know,” Leo mused. “I guess it just became a solution in my mind.”

“Well I look ridiculous right now,” Takumi groaned.

In all honesty, Takumi really wasn’t that hard to carry. He was pretty skinny and small, not like his kidnapping made that any better. So Leo just found it easy picking him up and walking around, even if the other couldn’t stand it.

On the other end, Takumi found it irritating because Leo could so casually lift him up like it was no big deal. It wasn’t fair that the prince could go do that whenever the opportunity was given to him. The only other time Takumi remembered being carried like that was when Corrin dropped her hair bow in the forest when they had been walking around. Takumi found it, but like an idiot tripped over a root and sprained his ankle. Ryoma carried him back to the castle like he weighed completely nothing. It could’ve been worse though. It could’ve been Corrin who carried him home because Takumi knew that the girl had enough strength and determination to pick her little brother up.

Leo just had to carry him around like that. It was annoying. But sometimes, Takumi didn’t really mind. _Tch. Sometimes_.

Wind blew through his long silver hair and Takumi immediately knew that they were outside. Something hit his cheek and landed into his hands. It felt soft and fragile.

“We’re here,” Leo explained, putting Takumi down to stand on his feet. “You can open your eyes now.”

Takumi was somehow blinded a bit by the dim sky before his eyes adjusted and met a beautiful blooming cherry blossom tree. Light pink petals were swirling around in the wind, surrounding the two boys.

When Leo finally succeeded, he couldn’t believe how gorgeous the tree was and how lucky Hoshido was to harbour such beauty. Takumi’s drawing had been very accurate compared to the real deal.

“It’s a…” Takumi’s smile lit up the world. “...cherry blossom tree!”

“How did you…”

“A lot of,” Leo pondered a bit, “research with magic. And countless nights of lost sleep.”

Takumi ran up to the tree, still amazed at how the Mage actually managed to grow one. It looked perfect. Like the ones he and Sakura used to watch bloom. Leo walked to stand beside the elated boy.

“Leo,” Takumi laughed, petals falling around him. “You’re such an _idiot_.”

“Pardon?” Leo scoffed. He did this and now he was an idiot.

“You did all this,” Takumi explained before Leo could kill him. “You lost sleep because of this and it’s not even that important.You really should start taking care of yourself more.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. So that was what Takumi was worrying about. Leo didn’t care if he lost sleep or spent days trying to magically create a Hoshidan tree. As long as he saw the content smile on the other’s face, he would be fine knowing that he lost a few hours of rest.

“I did all this,” Leo smiled, “because I wanted you to see cherry blossoms again.”

“That’s important to me,” Leo added.

“Oi, you really are an idiot,” Takumi blushed. “You didn’t have to do this. Especially not for me.”

But he did have to.

“My father took you away from your home,” Leo said. “The least I could do was let you have a bit back.”

Takumi found himself embracing the taller prince, still smiling. Leo did all this- he went through all this… For him. The fact that someone Takumi cared about went and grew a cherry blossom tree so he could see one again made his heart beat faster in a way.

But Takumi knew that Leo was making a huge mistake. The Hoshidan Prince wasn’t wanted or loved, so how could Leo do this to himself? Takumi would only give Leo bad luck or be a nuisance and burden to him. Takumi couldn’t let Leo make a mistake as big as that, even if the Hoshidan wanted him to stay with him.

“If you care about me,” Takumi unintentionally held Leo tighter, “you’re more stupid than I thought you were.”

“If caring about you makes me a fool,” Leo breathed. “Then I’ll gladly be the biggest idiot in the world.”

After hearing Leo’s words, Takumi felt… Cared for. Loved. It almost seemed like too much, but Takumi wanted to tell Leo that he cared about him too. But he couldn't find the right words at the moment, choosing to remain hugging the taller of the two instead.

As Takumi held onto him a bit longer, Leo felt the same feeling again. As the day went on and the two sat against the tree, climbed the tree and hung out, Leo continued to feel light and happy. Almost as if Leo had a million butterflies in his stomach, but it wasn't from being nervous.

As the breeze swirled the petals of the pink blossoms in the air, Takumi’s long hair elegantly blew in the wind. His bright amber eyes reflected the sunlight that wasn’t even there and his smile left Leo with his own happiness once again.

 _Love_.

Leo almost laughed at the thought. There couldn’t possibly be a way that Leo would actually feel the feeling of love. The universe wasn’t that generous with him.

However, as Leo was putting cherry blossoms in Takumi’s hair, he somehow realized how wrong he really was.

“What are you doing?” Takumi questioned as Leo continued to place pink flowers into the shorter’s soft locks.

The two were now sitting against the large trunk of the tree, enjoying the cool breeze and watching the petals fall from the strong branches.

“Just decorating you a bit,” Leo weaved another behind Takumi’s ear.

“Takumi?”

“Hm?”

“I have a question for you,” Leo combed through long silver hair, gently and carefully, “about the story you gave me.”

“Oh, that,” Takumi immediately turned pink and proceeded to bury his face in his hands out of embarrassment.

“The two fish in the story,” Leo continued. “What happens to them?”

“Well, they remain with each other in the water lily pond,” Takumi answered, removing his hands from his face.

“I know, but _what_ are they to each other?” Leo asked. He still automatically felt relaxed when he ran his fingers through the silky strands of hair, no matter how stressed he was.

“To each other?” Takumi never really thought of it that way. “I’m not sure. Corrin never really elaborated on that fact.”

“I guess you can imagine for yourself,” Takumi said. “So what do you think happened to them?”

“I think they fell in love,” Leo replied, nonchalantly.

“Fell in love? How so?” Takumi asked curiously. When his older sister told him this story, he never really picture the two koi fish loving each other as ...lovers.

“They obviously cared about one another,” Leo explained. “It could just be brotherly or a friendship, but I personally believe that in this make believe story, they fell in love.”

Takumi smiled. At least Leo liked the story. His gift would obviously never be as good as the tree Leo grew for him, but it came from the heart as well. Obviously, there was only so much a hostage could really create and make as a gift for a prince. But Leo still appreciated it, which made Takumi nearly burst with joy if the prince wasn't sitting right next to him.

After saying his theory, Leo realized that he loved Takumi. It was strange, admitting it clear in his head. As Takumi sat next to him, cherry blossoms in his hair, Leo realized that he loved this boy. He also found out that he didn’t care if he did. He fell in love with the Hoshidan and didn’t care if he was insulted by everyone. Or frowned upon.

He told himself that he would finally allow himself to feel these feelings. That he’d finally let himself be happy, be content. Be in love.

“Hey, Takumi?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you pronounce that fish name again?”

“You idiot!” Takumi face palmed as the blond laughed beside him.

Meanwhile, Silas was walking in the halls when he caught the sight of the two boys from a window. The servant smiled as he continued to walk off knowingly. _For your own benefit, huh Prince Leo?_

For the rest of the day, the other servants in the house questioned why he looked so happy. Jakob raised an eyebrow as Silas walked into the room as if there was a trail of rainbows and happiness following him. But the grey haired boy couldn’t help himself. He knew that he made the right decision and that it was the perfect time to grow the cherry blossom tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here you go and thank you for reading! <3
> 
> Another chapter to write! It might take me a while again, so I apologize... Still wish I had 17 more pre written chapters :(
> 
> As I was writing this, near the end all I could think about was highfiving Leo for how smooth that line was ("If caring about you makes me a fool, then I'll gladly be the biggest idiot in the world)... But you lost points after you forgot how to pronounce 'koi'
> 
> I also connected Takumi's thank you gift with something from one of the early chapters of the story... Cough cough (chapter 7)...
> 
> And added a bit more to Silas and Azura's little meeting when they were younger... And free (ok, sorry for that). I know a lot of people don't really ship these two, but when I played the game and got them together, I just thought their little family was so cute. It also helped that their first initials spelled (A-S-S) with Shigure...hehe. For some reason, Sophie was deleted from my army. I played her paralogue and everything, but she just... Disappeared.
> 
> (This note is getting too long! Sorry)
> 
> Silas is in Leokumi hell as well, guys!


	19. Chosen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the most anticipated and special events to occur did not go as planned at all for Nohr.
> 
> (One year later)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took forever to write... Sighs
> 
> But alas, it is here! Finally! 
> 
> I apologize for taking so long with his update... But I'm not known as the fastest writer out there :(
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

A year had passed and Takumi wasn’t sure whether it had gone by quickly or too slowly.

He sighed, tying his hair up with the ribbon Elise had been kind enough to give him after the millionth hair styling session. His hair had obviously grown longer so Takumi found it better tying it up to keep the hair out of his face. His shorter strands of hair though, stuck out from the ponytail, making an odd but doable hairstyle.

Unfortunately, he didn’t grown much taller since his kidnapping, which was depressing in itself. But he had obviously changed mentally. His full on hatred for Nohr wasn’t exactly full on anymore. There were actually kind Nohrians, from innocent villagers to people Takumi knew from in the castle. So he couldn’t really call them ‘Nohrian scum’ anymore.

Takumi wasn’t sure whether King Garon’s plans were succeeding at this point since Hoshido hadn't exactly declared war just yet. The second prince of Hoshido thought that he himself was pretty much useless, however Hoshidan fortresses and guards around the border began to strengthen and took stronger formations, either signaling their concern for future war or giving Nohr a hint or a warning.

Scars were still healing and fading. New ones were being added to the collection on his body. He got a few cuts on his arms and legs, but didn’t mention anything to Leo. The last thing he needed was the prince to fuss over a few cuts. What happened a year ago was different… More serious. Takumi could handle a few bruises and minor cuts.

Besides, today was a special day for Leo and his family. Everyone had been preparing for it for so long and all Takumi could hear for the past week was everyone talking about it. Takumi breathed a small laugh as he could still hear everyone’s rushed footsteps as servants hustled in the hallways to get everything perfectly ready.

A divine weapon.

It was discovered by a few Nohrian merchants near the border between Hoshido and Nohr. Even if all anyone could talk about was this weapon, Takumi still hadn’t been informed what weapon it exactly was.

Takumi sighed, sitting at the foot of his bed.

He really wished that one of his friends were here to accompany him in his state of boredom, but all the royals were getting dressed by servants, no doubt decked in the fanciest clothing. Silas was sent off to do… Something for the ceremony. To be frank, the grey haired boy never really specifies on what people usually order him to do. After all, he was to escort the princesses from time to time or check on Takumi or clean the stables.

Of course, Takumi was permitted to stay in his room or at least in the castle out of sight. Considering how busy everyone was, a divine weapon ceremony was a huge deal in Nohr. He wondered whether or not Ryoma received the Raijinto yet or if the divine weapon choosing was this fancy in Hoshido. He sighed, seemingly lost in his own thoughts, all alone.

Meanwhile, Leo was getting rushed, pushed and pulled by many servants, frantically putting on his clothing and hastily doing any buttons or hooks. Although he was being rushed so much, Leo couldn’t help but smile slightly at the thought of witnessing another divine weapon choosing someone. It didn’t really shock Leo as much anymore when the universe decided to pull a fast one on him.

He was wearing black and navy noble Nohrian wear with a few gold accents. His headband was kept simple and his hair was combed so each strand was placed perfectly on his head. It terrified the poor servants every time he moved an inch in fear that he’d cause something to fumble out of place or become lopsided.

Yet despite that fact, they still hurried him over after he was finished getting pampered. The hallways were extremely hectic and Leo nearly got killed by several bustling servants.

Leo remembered how hectic it was when Siegfried was found, but somehow this time around it managed to be even worse. The prince succeeded in putting on a calm face and demeanor when in reality he was all too excited to actually have a chance to witness another sacred weapon ceremony. He hadn’t had the opportunity to get a glimpse of the weapon yet, so his mind was racing with obvious thoughts and questions.

As he finally made it outside, he was met with the usual cold grey sky and dreary clouds. However, everyone in the now decorated steps of the castle seemed to bring a bit of life to Nohr with their excitement and interest. Noble men and women gathered around, waiting to watch the moment they were all anticipating and waiting for.

“Leo!” Elise called as he made his way up to the top of the stairs to meet her.

Elise looked splendid, dressed in a fine and elegant black and gold dress. It was obviously different from her usual girly and fun dresses, usually bursting with pink accents and bows. This dress seemed to carry more of Nohrian honour as the crest was displayed on the bows she wore in her hair and her dress seemed fitting for a prestigious lady. All in all the dress seemed more mature and almost plain in Leo’s opinion. Especially for a girl as eccentric as his sister.

Her long blonde hair was tied in her usual long pigtails. The one difference was that her hair wasn’t twisted and tied off at the end like it usually was. Instead her long locks were left waving down, purple streaks braided individually.

Camilla wore a dress similar to Elise’s. It had a different form and shape, however both carried golden Nohrian crests and shared the same midnight black fabric. Her hair was left down, lavender curls wildly falling down her back, except for two strands of hair on either side of her head that were braided and tied together at the back, meeting one another.

Another thing the two princesses shared were nicely fitted black gloves.

Xander was also standing beside his two sisters. He was dressed in proper Nohrian royal clothing. He had a sheath on his belt however with Siegfried safely inside. And once again, Xander seemed to give out an unmistakable aura. He was fit to be a king and no one could say otherwise.

Leo sighed, standing in between his two excited sisters. The two seemed to chat and talk as if Leo wasn’t standing in between them, which frankly Leo didn’t mind since he wanted to think for a bit undisturbed.

A lot had happened in one year and Leo didn’t want it to have ended so quickly. Or maybe he felt as if it had been too long. He wasn’t even sure at this point. Saying stuff like this out loud made Leo feel old somehow, so he usually kept these strange thoughts to himself.

Leo ended up slowly going to talking terms with Xander. He was still angry at his older brother, but the crown prince had vowed that he’d make it up to him. This made Leo curious to what his brother could possibly do. After all, he seemed to still follow his father’s every word. So did Leo, but he had simple tasks that didn’t involve plotting against their Hoshidan hostage. Unlike Xander who had to obediently listen to their king, keeping secrets and lying to keep them hidden and as well...secrets.

Despite that, the second prince was grateful that hatred and anger hadn’t taken over him. He wanted to forgive his brother and let it go. Forget about the wretched past and move forward, as Xander would put it. But Leo still managed to hold on to a bit of that anger. He still needed Xander to make it up for the constant lies. To his knowledge, Xander was still currently lying to poor Elise and possibly Camilla.

That sounded a lot worse in Leo’s head. Well, the fact that it had been a year and Elise still had no clue about why Takumi was there. He didn’t know if he had the heart to tell her. He should’ve made Xander do it in order to make it up to him. He should’ve and he could’ve. But that would’ve been too cruel of a task even if Leo was holding something against his elder brother.

Before he had confirmed his feelings for Takumi in his mind, he never truly understood why he was that mad at the other blond prince. However, now that he realized that he loved the Hoshidan, he came to terms that he was angry that Xander lied about what was happening to the boy he cared about and didn’t tell Leo that the silver haired boy was getting hurt.

Elise and Camilla’s conversation came to a stop as Camilla turned her attention towards her younger brother standing beside her.

“Leo, dear,” Camilla smiled, smoothing down her dress. “You look so adorable right now! I don’t believe I’d be able to resist the urge to hug you.”

“Adorable?” Leo sighed, stopping himself from rubbing his forehead.

“Yes, of course,” Camilla cooed. “You look so adorable in your little prince clothing. The fancy attire suits you well brother.”

“If ‘adorable’ clothing suits me well,” Leo sighed again, “I guess I’ll have to burn this later.”

“Oh Leo, don’t burn it before I can hug you in it,” Camilla laughed lightly, pushing a few lavender waves over her shoulder.

“You’ll get wrinkles on the clothing,” Leo shook his head, making sure not to cause his headband to fall crooked or shake too many noticeable hairs out of place. “The servants are already so worked up, I don’t want to stress them out even more.”

“Come on, Leo!” Elise piped in. “Camilla isn’t wrong! The clothing looks so cute on you!”

“The last thing I need is my younger sister telling me that I look cute in formal prince attire,” Leo took a deep breath to somewhat compose himself.

“Hmph. I bet if she was Takumi you’d let her hug you,” Elise pouted.

“What are you implying?” Leo blushed lightly (making sure not to stutter), suddenly finding his sleeves fascinating.

“Oh, little brother,” Camilla teased, knowingly, “Don’t try to act naïve. We all know how much you _lo_ -”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Leo cleared his throat. “Let’s just focus on the ceremony.”

“Alright, Leo,” Camilla sighed heavily.

“But don’t ever think that an older sister wouldn’t notice when her precious younger sibling is starting- no, has developed special feelings for a special someone,” the lavender haired girl winked before turning her attention towards the crowd.

Leo continued to blush to no end before he straightened up, took a few deep breaths and composed himself again.

He hated how his sisters could read him when it came to these emotions. He wished he was better at putting on an act, but even so Camilla would still find a way to uncover the truth.

Glancing back at the castle, Leo wondered what his friend was doing. Smiling a bit, he couldn’t help but feel happy thinking about the other. Camilla was absolutely right, but he couldn’t let her believe she was. He still felt odd about it and didn’t need his sister’s _assistance_ when it came to love at the moment.

Staring at the audience once again, Leo took another deep breath.

Meanwhile, Takumi was busy doing nothing in his small room. That was until somebody politely knocked on his door, making Takumi curious as to who it was. He slowly crept to the wooden door, praying it wasn’t Iago before realizing that the tall man would’ve barged into the room instead of knocking. Deciding that it seemed safe, Takumi opened the door, sighing in relief when he met Silas.

“Silas, what are you doing here?” Takumi asked. “I thought you were supposed to be working.”

“I was,” Silas smiled nervously, “A few servants and...um Jakob and Felicia kind of stole it though.”

“Stole it?” Takumi breathed a sigh. “Geez everyone is literally going crazy preparing for this ceremony.”

“Well it’s a divine weapon that we’re talking about here,” Silas pointed out. “Everyone’s going to want to see it. And if everyone wants to see it, you have to make sure that everything is perfect.”

“Okay, okay,” Takumi smiled. “But couldn’t you just go off to do something else for preparation?”

“Yeah, I thought about that,” Silas scratched the back of his neck. “But I decided not to.”

“Not out of laziness or anything!” Silas exclaimed when Takumi gave him a questioning look. “I just thought I’d keep you company over here. After all, everyone is gonna be at the ceremony, so you’re going to be pretty lonely.”

“You chose me over your job,” Takumi laughed. “I am flattered.”

It was still nice and refreshing having found a friend in Silas. It didn’t hurt having a bit of company when everyone else was busy. Thinking about his friendship with Silas though, would always remind him of Oboro and Hinata.

A year had passed and Takumi hoped the two idiots were doing fine without him. Everyone in Hoshido was probably doing fine without him. But he hoped that their friendship wasn’t torn apart. That Hinata was still stabbing needles into pin cushions and staying up late to help Oboro design and sew.

“Do you want to see it?” Silas suddenly asked, shaking Takumi’s thoughts.

“The ceremony? I can’t,” Takumi bit the inside of his cheek. “I have to stay inside the castle, unseen at all costs.”

“You can,” Silas exclaimed, excitedly. “There’s a window that has the perfect view of it all.”

“Nice try, Silas,” Takumi unfortunately had to rain on the poor servant’s parade. “But I can’t leave this room either.”

“No one will know, Takumi,” Silas assured him, putting a strong hand on the shorter’s shoulder. “Besides, you only witness a divine weapon choosing at least once in your life.”

“Unless you’re Leo,” Takumi mumbled, remembering that the older prince was going to see his second one along with the rest of the Nohrian royal family. _Lucky them_.

Takumi was trying to not let the peer pressure get to him as often as it seemed to, but his curiosity got the best of him. He knew that he wouldn’t be in Hoshido to see his older brother’s ceremony, so he might as well sneak a peek of one through a window.

Finally he followed Silas down the stairs to a huge window, without any panes. It was a classic arched kind of a shape that most Nohrian castles and fortresses owned and was faced perfectly in the direction of the ceremony. However, Takumi knew that if anyone looked in their direction they could see the two boys. It wasn’t the best place to be secretly watching the event, but Takumi hoped that no one would really notice them. After all, everyone’s attention only seemed to be on the event about to unfold before their very own eyes.

The king who was seated on a nicely made and decorated chair, raised his hand, silencing all the chatting Nohrians and somehow, Leo’s thoughts. The second prince took a deep breath, straightening his back even though he knew he was already standing perfectly tall. His sisters placed their hands gracefully on the front of their skirts while Xander and Leo left their arms by their sides.

“Today, is the day we’ve all been waiting for,” the king’s low voice echoed. “A divine weapon was found and brought to me. As you all know, such a weapon can only be drawn to those with dragon blood, or royal blood.”

“The last divine ceremony that we have ever had was for the sacred sword, Siegfried,” the King continued. “Of course, we all know that the fine sword had chosen my eldest son, the Crown Prince of Nohr, Xander.”

Everyone clapped and cheered as Xander politely waved and bowed.

“On this day, we will be witnessing another powerful weapon choose it’s wielder,” King Garon grinned, proudly. “And we shall see whom this ancient weapon picks.”

“After all having two divine weapons would aid us if future war was to come against those wretched, pathetic Hoshidans,” he added as the crowd cheered and agreed.

To the last comment,Takumi couldn’t help but flinch as if he was punched in the face. Just upright stating the possible chances of war seemed a bit brash in his opinion, especially calling his people pathetic.

A few servants brought in a covered podium. They uncovered it, revealing a bow. It was long and gold, with each end curving into an indefinite shape. Where you’d put the arrow and your hand was a golden piece, formed in a wing like shape. What confused Leo the most was that there was no bow string. No string to actually shoot the arrow from.

Without it the bow looked almost incomplete and broken.

From Takumi’s view, the bow looked interesting. It was obviously different from any other bow, not just because it was a divine weapon. Finally seeing a bow for the first time in what felt like an eternity made Takumi smile. It had been a long while since he got to hold on or shoot one. This was probably the last time he’d get to see one unless Hoshido really did declare war against Nohr.

As Leo had described it from Xander’s ceremony, the bow looked extremely dull and weakened. Even when it looked of a magnificent gold, somehow the colour faded to a dying grey or bronze.

“Who do you think is going to get it?” Silas asked as everyone cooed and gasped in awe over the weapon revealed in front of them.

“Well it can’t be Xander,” Takumi pondered. “Maybe Camilla?”

“Princess Camilla?” Silas seemed surprised. “I always pictured her fighting with something more heavy duty...like an axe or something.”

“You picture the princess wielding a battleaxe?” Takumi thought back to all his times with the older princess, “Wait, never mind. I see it too.”

“Prince Leo, perhaps?” Silas scratched his head. “I don’t believe he’s ever shot a bow before, so if he does get chosen, it should be very interesting.”

Takumi didn’t want to go through watching Leo attempt to shoot a bow. Especially after he’s seen Leo’s attempts at pronouncing his native language.

“How about Elise?” Takumi looked at the still bubbly princess, though she toned it down more to show her respect and discipline. “It would be cool to see her shooting a bow.”

“Hm, that could happen,” Silas took a deep breath as the ceremony continued on.

Leo stared at the bow, puzzled for a bit longer. Suddenly it started to move, just like Siegfried. The bow slowly rose into the air, attempting to find its wielder. It didn’t seem to sense them close by, so it continued to drift in the air.

Leo had high hopes that one of his sisters would retrieve it. They both seemed capable of learning how to shoot a bow and imagining one of them becoming the archer of a divine weapon made him smile proudly.

The bow suddenly began to move faster, finding its archer. It came towards Elise. Closer and closer. It shocked the young princess at how fast it was moving, causing her to lift up her hands in front of her face to shield herself.

The bow was supposed to slow down and stop at Elise. Then she’d grab it and it would burst with life and everyone would cheer. That didn’t happen though which confused both Leo and Takumi. And of course everyone else.

Instead, the bow zoomed past Elise, narrowly dodging her. Everyone gasped as the bow continued its journey, making a swift turn and going on. The bow had initially gone to the youngest princess, completely ignoring Camilla and Leo, so where was it going?

Takumi was still shocked when the bow seemingly rejected Elise. But now it was coming closer. Closer…to _him_. It traveled against the wind, literally gliding towards him. The bow was choosing him. How was this possible? Or even right?

He quickly caught the bow in his hand and it burst into colour and life. The gold of the bow was pure and vibrant now and shone even in the dim grey morning light. The bow now had a magically generated bowstring, bursting a light blue that brightened the dull Nohrian grounds.

_Fujin Yumi_.

This bow was the Fujin Yumi. And it was now in his hands. People were staring, people were confused. Takumi backed away from the window, bow still in hand.

“Takumi?” Silas breathed, staring at the brilliant sight in amazement and pure shock.

Everyone knew the truth now. He didn’t want anyone's views to change on him.

The bow suddenly felt too heavy to carry. His mind was racing and his heart was aching with regret. It shouldn't have been revealed this way. He couldn’t handle holding the bow any longer. Takumi took in a sharp, unexpected breath before dropping the bow. As it hit the ground, the blue string disappeared.

Takumi ran after that, ran as fast as he could to...anywhere. He had to hide and hope that Garon and Iago didn’t murder him for leaving his room. Or murder Silas. Or better yet kill him for even receiving that weapon.

The sound of the bow hitting the cold stone floor echoed in Takumi’s ears which soon turned to ringing. The prince didn’t even know where he was going, but he kept running. No servants were really in the castle at a time like this, so Takumi just ran as fast as he could without having to worry about crashing into someone.

He couldn’t have a divine weapon. It would be a waste. He was a waste.

What was the point of being the wielder of a divine weapon when you weren’t allowed to use it? Somehow the Fujin Yumi made a mistake. Maybe this was all a mistake. The bow should’ve went to one of the Nohrian siblings’ hands, not his. It was wrong. Fate was wrong. He didn’t deserve the Fujin Yumi. Not it’s power or to even hold it in his hands. He didn’t deserve it cause he was useless and pathetic, who would have no use for it. He didn’t deserve anything.

And now of all times, he didn’t deserve someone like Leo in his life. He had lied to the other so many times. He had probably hurt and confused him so many times. It wasn’t fair and he was done lying. Takumi felt like the floor beneath him was slowly swallowing him whole. He wished it was a reality. For he didn’t deserve the floor beneath him either.

}}}--------------------|}

Leo stared at the window for what felt like hours.

_What just happened?_

All the guests were given food and beverages while they all chatted amongst themselves in disappointment and confusion. King Garon seemed furious at the outcome of the ceremony, discussing something with his regents and trusted dukes and noblemen.

Leo was still in complete shock. The bow came towards Elise and...went past her. Instead of landing in his sister’s hands, the bow traveled to a window where it chose…Takumi. The bow chose Takumi.

Like his father had said- like the book had said, divine weapons only chose those of royal and dragon blood. So that meant…

Takumi wasn’t a regular Hoshidan as Leo had thought. He was a Hoshidan prince. Prince. As in royalty… Leo was so confused and he felt as if the world turned upside down. His mind was too jumbled to even think straight anymore. Leo was lied to again. Why did this keep happening? Why was everyone keeping secrets from him?

Elise seemed to be slightly upset with how everything played out as Camilla comforted her a bit. She seemed so close to being chosen and yet the bow had left her for a Hoshidan hostage. It felt especially strange since a Hoshidan managed to receive the bow on Nohrian soil...during a Nohrian ceremony.

“Leo,” Xander’s voice startled Leo out of his thoughts a bit. “Find Takumi, now.”

That was an order. An order that Leo had no resistance in following. He needed to talk to the Hoshidan. Hoshidan prince actually.

The blond practically ran around the castle in search for his friend, this time not caring whether or not he wrinkled his clothing. He checked Takumi’s room and other rooms of the castle (even his own), but he hadn’t found the Hoshidan in any of those places.

Leo took a deep breath, attempting to think for a few seconds. Where could he be?

Suddenly, it dawned on Leo. The Nohrian prince knew exactly where Takumi had ran off to. Leo moved quickly, swiftly running through the hallways, having memorized the route to where Takumi was hiding.

Leo entered the library, out of breath. He rushed past bookshelf after bookshelf before finally finding the still shorter boy, sitting in a corner curled up in a ball. His head was buried in his knees and his ponytail fell to a random side.

“Takumi?” Leo called, breath uneven.

Takumi took in a sharp breath and he suddenly raised his head, looking into Leo’s eyes. He saw something in the Hoshidan prince’s eyes. Was it... _fear_? But what did he have to fear? What was he afraid of?

“I’m sorry, Leo,” Takumi exclaimed, voice growing quieter. “I’m so sorry.”

Leo sat down beside Takumi, leaning against the wall, no doubt damaging the expensive fabric of his attire.

“I’m a liar,” he continued, biting his bottom lip slightly. “I keep lying to you and keeping these secrets. And I’m sorry.”

“In all honesty, it hurt,” Leo let out a quiet laugh. “Knowing that you’ve hidden so many things from me... Yet I can’t blame you.”

Takumi tilted his head in confusion, seeming a bit surprised by this.

“You’re a hostage, a prisoner in my castle,” Leo explained. “I wouldn’t necessarily reveal all the truth myself if I was put in a situation like that.”

“But… You’re my friend,” Takumi shook his head. “After all you’ve done for me, I should’ve told you that I am a…”

“A prince,” Leo finished for him. “You’re a prince of Hoshido. The second I assume.”

“Yeah,” Takumi nodded his head. “I should’ve told you that.”

“I’m still offended in a way,” Leo smirked. “You know that it’s more respectful of you to owe me something now right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Takumi sighed. “Had a feeling that was coming.”

Leo watched the morning light from the library windows reflect off of Takumi’s silver hair. It was tied up again in the ponytail that Takumi prefered it having in nowadays.

“Leo,” Takumi looked at the floor, unable to meet the other’s gaze. In his amber eyes was fear again. And as if it was sadness, Leo didn’t want to see it in the other’s eyes.“Do you hate me?”

“Hate you? Why would I hate you?” Leo asked almost immediately after. Where was this coming from?

“I’m the prince of the enemy kingdom,” Takumi bit his lip. “You should hate me.”

So that was what Takumi feared. He was scared that Leo would now resent him. Hate him.

It was strange. Leo at first thought that he would hate Takumi. Get so angry at the boy because he was the prince of the opposing kingdom. However, he didn’t. He initially felt taken aback. But not so much hatred. After all it had been a year since Leo had come to the realization that he loved Takumi. He couldn’t hate him… Especially for something as small as this.

“Do you hate me, Takumi?” Leo asked.

“What? No, of course not!” Takumi replied, surprised. That sounded like one of the most ridiculous questions Takumi had ever heard in his life (the majority of them being Hinata's). He couldn’t hate Leo after all the prince had done for him.

“Then why would you think that I hate you?” Leo asked. “If an enemy prince should hate the other then you should hate me.”

“I…but…you-”

“Prince or not,” Leo smiled a rare, warm and genuine smile that he didn’t just give anyone. “I care about you Takumi. You’re still my friend.”

Leo said the last bit with a bit of hesitation, unnoticeable to the other boy however. Calling Takumi a friend when he felt something beyond that felt stranger than he expected it to be. But Leo had to keep his feelings shut away and secret.

“Thank you Leo,” Takumi smiled back.

“But where are your manners Leo?” Takumi laughed suddenly. “Insulting me and thinking that I had no right to talk like the way I did because I wasn't royalty.”

So he remembered stuff like that, huh?

“That was a year ago, alright?” Leo sighed. “And I apologize for that, but I had no idea.”

“That’s right you didn’t. So I can’t blame you for any of that,” Takumi bit the inside of his cheek again. “You thought that I was just a regular Hoshidan.”

He did. He thought that Takumi was a regular Hoshidan kidnapped by his father and was being used against the king of Hoshido and the royal family. He thought that the reason why nothing had happened for a year was because Takumi was just a regular Hoshidan and the royals didn’t think that it was anything to start a war for. But Takumi was their prince and the Royal family’s son and brother. So that lead Leo to the question. Why weren’t they doing anything? Why haven’t they been doing anything for a year after what Iago’s been doing to Takumi?

If Leo ever got kidnapped by the enemy kingdom, he’d like to think that his siblings at the very least would come rescue him. Or maybe the Nohrian army. But nobody came for Takumi. Nothing really changed. Obviously, Leo would think it’d be stupid for any kingdom to declare immediate war after that, but after a year or so, you’d expect the kingdom would take at least a bit of action.

“You want to know why Hoshido’s been so silent for a year, don’t you?” Takumi read Leo’s mind, shocking the blond a bit. Was he that easy to read? Or did he say something out loud unintentionally again?

Maybe it was some tactic the Hoshidans used. They pretended to be quiet and not bothered by the other kingdom’s threat before launching a surprise attack on the enemy kingdom when they least expected a battle to come.

“It’s because they don’t care about me. They don’t need or want me back,” Takumi stared down at the floor again. “Nobody _I love_ , loves me or cares enough about me.” _Not even you_.

Leo refused to let Takumi believe that. He couldn’t let the other boy think that he was too worthless for the world.

“Your family, the king and queen,” _And me_. “They all love you.”

“If this was Sakura, they’d have rescued her by now,” Takumi breathed out a mocking laugh. “Ryoma could probably break out himself. And Hinoka and Corrin have enough determination to as well.”

Takumi felt inferior to his other siblings. Like how Leo felt compared to his. Takumi felt useless.

“They all miss you, Takumi,” Leo put a hand onto the other’s shoulder. “Even if you don’t believe it. My father is succeeding with his plans. Hoshido will eventually give in and declare war if Iago continues to use you against them.”

“That would be worse,” Takumi shook his head. “I’d rather have them not care about me than have them start a war.”

“The last thing I need is to know that I caused a war to happen.”

“You won't,” it was Leo’s turn to shake his head. “If anyone started a war, it would be my father.”

The man really had changed. He had been a respectable King and father. Now he was poisoned. In his mind, soul and heart. Now he demanded war and conquest.

“Come on,” Leo stood up, holding out a hand for Takumi. “We should get going. People were wondering where you ran off to. And by people I mean Silas.”

“People? As in more than one Silas?” Takumi laughed, politely taking Leo’s hand and getting up. “I can barely handle one.”

“He’ll be crushed hearing that,” Leo sighed, still smiling.

“Then I guess we can’t tell him,” Takumi followed Leo’s lead as they left the library.

}}}--------------------|}

Takumi held the bow tightly in his hands before his death grip went slack. He stared at the Fujin Yumi for the longest time, studying the smallest and finest details on the bow. He didn’t understand why Silas was allowed to return the bow to him. Especially since it could be lethal against anyone standing in the castle. Especially if it was in a hostage’s hands.

He brought the bow closer to his face, following the strange curves at the ends. Takumi imagined the bright blue bow string again, forming out of thin air. It was obviously a bow like no other, not only because it was a divine one. It was simply breathtaking. If Takumi hadn’t been busy freaking out in his mind he would’ve admired it a bit more when he first held it in his hand.

Suddenly, the string formed, a bright light nearly blinding Takumi. He almost immediately dropped the bow. He probably looked stupid now. He looked afraid to even pick up the yumi that chose him again. Sighing, Takumi carried the Fujin Yumi once more.

The string had appeared when he wanted it to. Maybe the arrow would as well.

Taking a deep breath, Takumi imagined the bow string appearing again, using all his concentration. He felt it reappear, still a brilliant blue that Takumi would never get sick of seeing. His heart nearly skipped a beat as he had finally kept a hold of the bow instead of dropping it like a complete wimp.

This time he calmly placed three fingers on the blue string and pictured an arrow forming instead. Just like with the string, a blue arrow of light was created before him. It was an amazing sight and more importantly an amazing bow.

The door opened suddenly causing Takumi to let go of the bow string and shoot the arrow. It ricochet off the wall and ended up piercing into the side of his bed. _That was going to leave a mark_.

“Please do not do that again,” Prince Xander’s voice shifted Takumi’s attention from the now ripped mattress. The Crown Prince almost never spoke or interacted with Takumi unless his father had told him to. The fact that he may or may not be seeing Takumi on his own free will sparked the Hoshidan’s curiosity.

“Prince Xander?” Takumi tilted his head slightly, confused.

“I know that I’m not usually someone you like to see,” Prince Xander exclaimed. “Or one who talks to you often… However, I acknowledge that I have been a terrible person to you and have done many things that I regret, involving the constant lies I’ve told my family.”

What was the prince doing? Takumi completely respected that the crown prince was somewhat…apologizing for his actions. However, his apology sounded more like he was talking to someone else rather than Takumi. The shorter and younger of the two also found it odd that Prince Xander seemed to be confessing his sins to him.

“Prince Takumi,” Prince Xander continued, but Takumi had to stop him and tell him to call him by his name without the formal title (after all, why start now when everyone called him without his royalty in his name anyway?). “Because of my actions and hiding my knowledge about you and my father’s whereabouts, I have angered and hurt my younger brother, Leo.”

“So in order to repay him,” Prince Xander spoke again before Takumi could even think. “I decided that I’ll continue to try to help you as best as I can.”

“How?” Takumi asked suddenly, cursing himself for sounding so rude.

“First off,” Prince Xander gave a small smile. Well at least Takumi thought he did. With someone as serious as the older blond prince, he wasn’t sure if he could really smile unless it was for his people or siblings. _Probably the lighting again_.

“Follow me,” Prince Xander ordered, “and bring that bow.”

Takumi still completely confused knew that it was best to just listen to the prince. He followed carefully, making sure to be silent and stealthy. Prince Xander lead him along a route he obviously didn’t recognize. He went down stairs and stairs...and more stairs. The air got colder and colder, but after spending a full year in Nohrian weather conditions, the chill didn’t quite bother him anymore.

The older prince finally lead him through a dark tunnel before they were met with a decently lit passage. One of the brightest rooms Takumi had seen by far. There were a few oddly placed wooden posts near one wall and a few targets. Also placed in the spacious room were strong weapon stands, carrying different types of weapons from swords to axes. The room however did not look a like it was intentionally built for training.

_An underground passage?_

Why would a prince bring him to a completely abandoned passage?

“This is an underground area my father doesn’t use anymore,” Prince Xander explained. “He allows only my siblings and me in here, so we can train here with weapons or magic.”

“No one is allowed in here unless they are of royal blood as my father believed that in by doing so, risk of assassination in here would be less likely. Also insult from our army’s men against the Royal family’s abilities in fighting would be put to a minimum,” he continued. “So Iago isn’t granted permission in here or any servants. The only exception are if retainers were permitted to enter by their masters.”

“Here you can train with your bow,” the Crown Prince exclaimed, the statement shocking Takumi. “You are allowed to train here in secret, but only if one of my siblings or I announce that we will be training here. That is the only way to conceal you.”

“And if you’d like to practice with a regular one,” Prince Xander pointed out. “There are a few bows, quivers and arrows at the weapon stand.”

Takumi was getting the chance to actually train with a bow and not just any bow, but a divine weapon. And out of all the Nohrian royals helping him achieve this, it was Prince Xander. The older male who seemed so serious and distant was at the very least attempting to be nice to him. It may have been on Leo’s behalf, but it still made Takumi grateful to the Royal.

“Domo arigatō gozaimashita,” Takumi bowed politely, muffling his laughter with his hand when he saw how confused Prince Xander looked after he spoke in Hoshidan.

“I said ‘thank you very much’,” Takumi explained, earning a quick nod from the older male.

“I’d like to thank you as well,” the crown prince said, surprising Takumi once more. He had done nothing for the prince, so what was there to thank him for?

“You may not know this,” the blond smiled. He _smiled_. And Takumi was pretty sure that it was real and he wasn’t hallucinating. “But you make my little brother happy. You have no idea how joyous he looks whenever we eats breakfast or dinner together. It’s undeniably because of you. Even Elise and Camilla can point that out.”

“I apologize, but I believe that Leo was already um capable of feeling...feelings?” Takumi scratched the back of his neck, looking down at his feet.

“Sure, Leo has been happy before. It isn’t like he cannot feel such an emotion,” Prince Xander nodded his head slightly, “but I’ve never seen him smile like _that_ before. It’s truly amazing finally seeing my younger brother care so much about someone. He clearly _likes_ you Takumi.”

Takumi blushed at that. He cursed himself in his head for the light pink on his cheeks that were obviously noticeable for the other royal.

“He… He does?” the boy quietly asked before turning away from the smiling prince, still blushing uncontrollably. “I mean it’s not like I care or anything! Leo… He can feel however he wants!”

“Hm. I see what Leo means now,” Prince Xander chuckled.

What does that mean? Has Leo been talking about him? Behind his back? _Tch. Probably insults on his ‘childish’ behavior._ No wonder Prince Xander was laughing.

“Wha-? Idiot!” Takumi huffed, thinking up his next plan to murder the second Nohrian prince. “That stupid Baka!”

For the next hour, Prince Xander tried to aid Takumi in shooting the bow to the extent of his knowledge. Training actually wasn't bad considering that Takumi’s aim was decent for an archer-in-training.

The crown prince told Takumi that he’d train a bit with his sword. Takumi nodded his head, pulling back the blue bowstring once more to shoot. He conjured up another arrow before glancing at the older prince who had drawn out Siegfried.

It really was an incredible sword. And Prince Xander was a remarkable swordsman from the way he swung against the wooden posts. Leo had told Takumi once about his older brother’s skills with the sword. He had said that Prince Xander beat him in every sword match and that he stood no chance against him sharing the same weapon. Takumi could remember the countless matches he lost against Ryoma, understanding how the other prince felt.

Watching the crown prince train made Takumi see for himself how well he used the sword. His skills with the sword matched Ryoma’s skill with the katana. It was that scary.

Shaking his head, Takumi went back to focus on archery. He took a deep breath, letting go of the string calmly. The arrow hit the target. It wasn’t a bullseye, but it was close. The Hoshidan prince took another deep breath before sighing. He wasn’t going to become an amazing archer overnight, but with enough hard work and training he might become of use in battle for the future if war was to break out.

That night, Takumi actually somehow slept. No _brutal_ nightmares and no disturbances. Maybe the Fujin Yumi gave him a bit of hope for the time being. Or maybe, the Yumi was giving him a bit of his light back. He had had to hide the divine weapon under his bed with black cloth covering it. It wasn’t the most original or fool proof hiding spot, but it would suffice for the time being.

Prince Xander was apparently ordered by the king to keep the bow hidden in his personal chambers, so everyone thought that the crown prince was keeping the divine weapon.

Smiling a bit, Takumi buried his head into his pillow, silver hair cascading over the bedsheets. Even though he lay in the darkness, Takumi didn’t feel as alone and cold as he did a year ago. Now he had people he cared about and who cared about him. He had friends.

The boy still couldn’t believe it had been a year. So much had happened.

His hand brushed over a a few cuts on his arm that the king left for him. They were still red, but Takumi didn’t pay much mind to the injuries anymore. After a year, you’d get used to them. He knew that those words would hurt Leo, or more so anger him. Yet Takumi felt that way. He was… Used to it. Yet the cuts and burns and whip lashes never got less painful. In fact, the prince believed that they got worse and worse each time, more unbearable than the one before and so on.

Those minor cuts may or may not have mattered to Takumi, but it could matter to his family back in Hoshido. Maybe they did really care for him. Maybe they loved and wanted him back. However, as much as Takumi wanted that, he also didn’t. He couldn’t let them start a war just because he was getting tortured in Nohr. He couldn’t let a war happen because of him.

People would die. People would die because he was stupid enough to get kidnapped.

If he had to suffer and spend the rest of his life in Nohr, so be it. He’d much rather have that than a merciless fight breaking out between the two kingdoms.

But whatever he wished for here wouldn’t matter. Leo was right. Hoshido was eventually going to strike. His people were going to fall right into the king’s trap. It was all going to go according to his plan. Maybe if he came back to Hoshido, the idea of war would dissipate.

It wasn’t the first time Takumi even considered escaping. The mere idea alone was most likely impossible to achieve. After all, there was no way he could leave the Nohrian castle without getting caught, so more often than not Takumi brushed off the thought. But the idea kept coming back, creeping into Takumi’s mind at times. Almost as if it was a was a sign.

For the hundredth time though,Takumi shook the thought out of his head. He was a prisoner of Nohr, bound and chained. Stuck in a bird cage, unable to fly free any longer. Escaping was a dream, a wish. A wish never to be granted and a dream never to come true.

And for the rest of the night, Takumi ended up wondering whether someone was willing enough to save him from his cage. Set him free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, okay that was that :D
> 
> So basically if you're wondering, there will be a Hoshidan chapter explaining what happened there throughout the year and stuff
> 
> I may or may not get writer's block soon, which sucks cause I actually like writing this a lot. But you can't mess with inspiration and such, so I might end up writing some one shots??? I wanted to do a modern setting for a while, but idk.
> 
> P.S. Takumi's gonna be an amazing archer! YAS!


	20. Can't You Tell I'm Missing You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoshidan chapter...not really sure how to summarize it. 
> 
> Hinata/Oboro in this chapter too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so after a lot of writing and erasing a lot of writer's block cringey sentences, you have this even cringier chapter! (Probably spelled that wrong). 
> 
> So, I hope you enjoy this chapter as always and um like the twist I threw in there that half of you saw coming...XD

  
Corrin spat out the grass that somehow ended up in her mouth.

“Again.”

“Again?” Hinata’s eyes widened as the white haired girl stood up. “But I don’t want to end up hurting you, Corrin.”

“I’m fine,” Corrin shot him a small smile in attempts to prove her point. “So let’s spar again.”

She readied her sword, taking a deep breath. However, the brunette in front of her did not raise his katana from his leisure stance.

Hinata was working to become a strong samurai for the army, so Corrin helped him train. However, she mainly ~~got wrecked~~ lost with dignity. This only pushed the determined dragon shifter to train harder.

Hinata was the kind of person who followed any request given to him by a _beautiful_ woman, no matter how irking the demand was. Unless of course he was fighting a female enemy. But the brunette was not the one to refuse an order from an appealing woman.

Seeing as he did not seem to want to follow Corrin’s demand, she found that quite insulting to her appearance.

“I’m sorry, Lady Corrin,” Hinata spun on his heel, dull side of his blade resting on his shoulder. “But I think I hear Oboro calling for me.”

“Nice try, Hinata,” Corrin clicked her tongue, stopping the taller boy in his tracks. “We all know that Oboro’s on a business related trip with her parents.”

The bluenette was with her two parents as they were selling their clothing in towns further away from the capital of Hoshido. Obviously everyone was very happy and excited for her and her family, but Corrin could sense and see the sadness in Hinata’s eyes as he bid her farewell and a happy ‘see you soon.’

“Oh yeah,” Hinata’s free hand scratched the back of his neck as he sadly looked at the dirt on his shoes.

“Look,” Corrin let her sword’s weight pull her extended arm down lazily at her side. “I get it, you miss her. It’s tough to go through that.”

“After what happened with…” Hinata’s voice drifted away, not wanting to continue his sentence. “It was just me and Oboro. And- and now it’s just me. I’m all by myself.”

“You’re not alone, Hinata,” Corrin gave him a sad smile of her own. “We’re both missing someone. Might as well miss them both together.”

It was silly, but Corrin thought that if the two shared their pain it wouldn’t hurt as much as it originally would’ve experienced alone.

“Y- you’re right!” the brunette gave the princess a big grin showing his bright white teeth that Corrin missed seeing on his face. “Sorry for getting all depressing and stuff.”

“No worries,” Corrin waved her sword around as her arms made gestures. “Besides, Oboro will be back in no time to punch your shoulders and yell at you for being an idiot. And you’ll be back to sewing with her during late hours and holding eachothers hands.”

The dragon shifter noticed the faintest of pink on the other’s cheeks as she mentioned the ‘holding hands’ part.

“Who knows maybe you’ll gather enough guts to confess to one another already,” Corrin sighed dreamily, smirking at the brunette.

“What?” Hinata nearly dropped his katana. “Heh, I don’t know anything about confessing to one another or anything.”

“C’mon! You two literally are one of the cutest couples of all time!” Corrin almost flung her weapon across the training area when she threw her arms down in exasperation. “You guys are pretty much making out with your eyes.”

“Okay,” Hinata looked off to the side. “So maybe I do have a crush on her-”

“Yes!”

“...but making out with our eyes? Oboro barely gives me the time of day,” Hinata pointed out, shaking off the idea of a love confession.

“Barely give you the- Do you see the way she looks at you?” Corrin shook her head, white waves falling messily onto her face. “You guys need to kiss already.”

“Kiss? Lady Corrin, I-”

“Pardon me,” a gentle voice interrupted their conversation.

Azura walked in, white fabric flowing like water behind her. She curtsied respectfully to both of them, leaving Hinata slightly surprised by the polite gesture towards him.

“Lady Corrin, we must speak,” the bluenette explained. The princess nodded her head, raising an eyebrow. Putting her sword away, she walked towards her friend.

“I’ll see you later, Hinata,” Corrin nodded her head as a farewell.

“You bet! Catch you later, Lady Corrin!” Hinata beamed another toothy grin as the two girls walked off, silently thanking Azura for taking Corrin away (Meanwhile, Corrin was resisting the urge to yell “Just Corrin!” at her friend).

Azura led the princess to sit on a stone bench that was placed near the cherry blossom grotto. The trees weren’t blooming the elegant flowers during this particular season.

“What is it, Azura?” Corrin seemed quite concerned. Since she was dead set on befriending everyone and vice versa, she had found a friend in the servant. And if her friend wanted to speak to her privately, than she knew something was up.

“I’m worried about you, Corrin,” Azura explained while Corrin silently thanked the gods for the blue haired girl didn’t say ‘lady’ or ‘princess.’

“You’ve been training and overworking yourself. And I highly doubt that it is good to neglect your health.”

“I assure you that I’m fine, Azura and I thank you for worrying about me, but again, I am in top shape,” Corrin took a deep breath, smiling a bit as she stared at the familiar meadow.

“Are you?” the servant tilted her head slightly. “Corrin, I don’t want what happened to Hinoka to happen to you.”

Corrin felt an immediate rush of sadness wash over her slight peace at the mention of what happened to her older sister. The redhead had fell ill with a cold after neglecting her health and overworking herself with vigorous training. (including spending lots of time in the rain that was becoming common during the change of season). However, that was a few months ago and now the princess was standing tall again.

Hinoka continued to train, but she promised to take care of herself more. So far she seemed to be holding her promise and didn’t burn herself out like she used to.

The cold wasn’t the most serious sickness that could’ve affected the redhead, but still gave everyone a fright. Corrin didn’t want Azura to worry over nothing because she was perfectly fine. In perfect condition.

“You don’t need to worry, Azura,” Corrin pressed. “I may be a bit crazy in the head, but I will never let my health get damaged because I overworked myself.”

“Corrin, you may not be overdoing anything now,” Azura sighed, a slight breeze blowing her soft light blue locks. “But don't put too much pressure on yourself or you will.”

“In other words, if Hinata beats you for the hundredth time then he beats you.”

“What? Hey! It wasn’t a hundred,” the princess scoffed, feigning overexaggerated offense.

“You understand what I mean, right?”

“Yes, yes of course Azura,” Corrin gave her friend another small smile. “But you do understand me, right?”

“Pardon? I apologize Lady Corrin, but I do not understand your question,” Azura tilted her head in confusion.

“ _Corrin_. Just Corrin, remember?” the white haired girl corrected.

“I’m doing all of this because just like Hinata, I’m missing someone,” she explained, hands resting gently on her own lap. “And of course you already know who I’m missing.”

“I know what that feels like,” Azura said quietly. “I know how much it hurts to miss someone.”

“You do?” Corrin raised a brow. This was news to her.

“I miss a lot of people,” the servant continued.

“There was a Nohrian boy I met by the lake I love visiting, if you recall,” she explained as Corrin straightened up at the sound of ‘Nohrian.’

“Nohrian?” she nearly screamed.

“Believe it or not, Corrin,” Azura managed to laugh at her little outburst, “but not all Nohrians are bad.”

“Okay, okay!” Corrin raised her hands in defense. “Please entertain me with your story.”

“Well, he and I became quite close over the course of a few days,” Azura smiled softly at the memory. “So when it came time to say farewell to one another, I gave him a pouch full of cherry blossom seeds in hopes that he’ll grow them when he knew it was the perfect time.”

She remembered quite fondly the moment she gave them to the boy. She only hoped that he hadn’t forgotten about them or about her. She hoped that the Nohrian boy had used them.

“He gave me a gift in return,” Azura sighed happily.

“Ooh! What was it?” Corrin asked excitedly.

“He gave me dark blue Nohrian silk,” the servant recalled. “It may not seem like much, but I used the silk to create a beautiful dance ensemble. Maybe one day I could show it to you.”

“Oh my! Azura, why didn’t you tell me about this mysterious crush you have?” Corrin gasped, unable to contain her giddy feelings threatening to burst out of her any second.

“Seeing what you have done to Hinata and Oboro for the past year,” Azura laughed nervously. “I thought it was best not to mention it.”

“Okay, point taken,” Corrin sighed knowingly. Her matchmaking skills were on point nonetheless though. “So what is his name?”

“Hm? Ah yes, we called each other by nicknames or code names,” Azura explained. “So I don’t know his actual name, but I would like to find out someday.”

“But he called me ‘Lady of the Lake’ and I called him ‘Knight in Shining Armour,” Azura continued, smiling to no end, causing Corrin to turn on her matchmaking and shipper mode.

“Hm, I see,” Corrin smirked. “You two were adorable back then! Code names and presents. Just making this mysterious crush even more mysterious.”

“And this is usually why I keep these things to myself, Corrin,” Azura sighed, before standing up.

“I have duties I must go back to doing,” she exclaimed. “So I must take my leave. Please take care of yourself, Corrin.”

Before the servant left, she turned around, “I know you miss your younger brother, Princess, but try to keep your hopes up. After all, Hoshido will bring him back no matter what.”

And the singer believed that. Clutching the pendant around her neck, she wondered if unleashing its power could save the missing second prince. Maybe she could be of use for once.

Meanwhile, Corrin sighed staring at the grotto in front of her. Azura was correct about one thing. Hoshido was going to bring her brother back no matter what. That was why everyone had been working so hard for a year after all. Corrin just hoped that a year wasn’t too long of a wait. She hoped that they didn’t take too long to get to Takumi.

Corrin found herself absentmindedly grasping onto her dragon stone. The army needed her. They needed her abilities to transform into a dragon. If only she could control her more powerful attacks. If she could nail them, they could be one step closer to taking the rescue plan into action. She had to work harder, but knew her boundaries. She wouldn’t _over_ do it, but she still needed to train.

Everyone had been so busy over the past year, trying to come up with ideas, weapons and techniques in order to ensure a successful victory against Nohr. After some research, Corrin realized how terrifying the Nohrian army really was. She always believed the other army was powerful, no doubt being a kingdom surviving off of conquering others, but she never noticed how ruthless and strong their soldiers were.

That just meant that putting a fight against them would get ten times more risky. Especially since Nohr had the advantage of keeping their second prince hostage. They had an upper hand and a powerful army. If the Hoshidans didn’t think of a plan fast, then they had in turn already lost.

“But what can we do?” Corrin muttered to herself, trying to come up with a good plan in her head.

Hoshido had plenty of resources which enabled them to create strong weapons if needed. But would a powerful weapon be enough to stop Nohr’s countless sorcerers and mages? Would they be able to fend off what Nohr had in store?

After all, Nohr did strike first by kidnapping a royal, so that obviously mean that they were prepared for whatever Hoshido had to offer. What made the king so confident in his plan?

Corrin couldn’t put her finger on it. For someone who had spent most of her days ‘thinking’ you’d think she’d come up with something by now. But the mysteries of Nohr could not be solved by her.

“This is pointless,” Corrin said through gritted teeth. “If we don’t find out what Nohr is planning to do then we’ll never stand a chance against them. More Hoshidan blood will be spilled and I can’t let that happen.”

The princess took a deep breath. Maybe she couldn’t find out what might be in store in the future, but maybe somehow someone else could. Standing up again and cracking her stiff bones, Corrin sought out to find Hinata again.

Their match wasn’t over yet. And if Corrin had to lose for the 510th time, then who was she to complain.

}}}--------------------|}

It only took Ryoma a few seconds after hearing the news to immediately send off soldiers to the scene.

He nearly cursed under his breath as he hurried down the hallway. He also nearly crashed into Corrin and Hinata in his haste.

“Ryoma? Why are you in such a rush?” Corrin seemed worried at the sight of her brother being worried. Ryoma had that unfortunate effect on others.

“Nohrian bandits have attacked more Hoshidan merchants,” Ryoma explained, Hinata’s head shot immediately to his direction at the explanation.

“Those Nohrians are getting bolder and more ruthless by the day,” Corrin shook her head, angrily. “What is going on with them?”

“An attack on merchants? Please, Lord Ryoma let me come,” Hinata exclaimed. Corrin looked at the boy questioningly. He was beyond worried and a glint of fear were in his grey eyes.

“It is too dangerous at the moment,” Ryoma shook his head, rejecting Hinata’s plea. “Now, I must hurry.”

Corrin noticed the fear in her friend’s eyes, biting her lip. She couldn't bear to see anyone like that. Luckily she remembered a very important fact about Ryoma.

“Um, brother? Must I remind you that you don’t know how to ride a Pegasus?” Corrin stopped the prince in his tracks. “Or a Kinshi for that matter?”

Horses were always an option...if Ryoma knew how to ride one that is.

“I’ll have you know that Hinata here can ride a horse,” Corrin patted the boy’s shoulder, smiling a bit.

“And a Pegasus!” Hinata grinned, hope in his eyes leading to Ryoma’s defeat.

“As a good friend, he should go to represent the crown prince,” Corrin added. “And the second princess.”

“Alright. But please be careful. It could still be dangerous out there,” the high prince ordered.

“You can count on me, sir!” Hinata saluted the Royal before hurrying off to find a royal Pegasus to fly.

The brunette hastily climbed a top of a cream coloured one, leading it out of the stables to where Hoshidan soldiers were preparing to take off to the scene. He had to make sure that she was alright. Or at least pray to the gods that she wasn’t one of the unfortunate ransacked by the bandits.

As everyone flew off, Hinata followed, letting the cold air numb his fingers that seemed to be glued onto the reins.

He had lost Takumi to Nohrians, he wasn’t going to lose Oboro to them too.

For what felt like forever in Hinata’s mind, they had finally made it to a path used for transporting merchandise and loot by carriage. Except, the dirt path had carriages sprawled across, broken down.

Landing immediately, recklessly if you asked the other soldiers, Hinata literally jumped off the Pegasus. He ran towards the beaten wagons, jumping over a few wheels that had fallen from their axles.

Peering inside a few carriages, Hinata was shocked to find all of them completely empty besides a few worthless items and ripped unusable cloth. As the other soldiers followed him into the wreck and examined the damage, the samurai-in-training continued walking around. He came across a few bodies, making him stumble back in horror.

They were the owners of one of the carriages, slashed and killed. The Nohrian bandits had been merciless, not even letting the merchants survive. Hinata noticed one of the corpses was one of an elderly woman, making him grimace in pure disgust as to how heartless the goons had been.

Finally managing to walk away from the sight, Hinata was met with even more horror. Almost falling to his knees, he couldn’t believe what was in front of him. They were...there. One man and one woman. Their dead bodies stained the grass with blood, dark fatal cuts prominent on their light clothing. The couple had been holding hands as they met their fate which only made it harder for Hinata to stand. Oboro’s parents.

The dead husband and wife lay silently on the ground, making Hinata wish to hear their voices one last time. He wanted Oboro’s mother to ask whether he wanted tea or for Oboro’s father to ask him to help out with carrying some heavy supplies.

Hinata couldn’t believe it. The last words they had ever said to him was...was “Goodbye.”

Shaking his head to bring him back to reality, Hinata noticed that Oboro wasn’t with her parents. Was she not dead? Did she survive? Hinata quickly ran towards the two corpses, looking around them. If Oboro was still alive she’d stay at least near her deceased parents.

He heard some sniffling and whimpering from beside him, immediately turning. Leaning against a fallen carriage was Oboro, weeping from the events that would no doubt haunt her. Dashing over to his friend, Hinata knelt down beside the navy blue haired girl.

“Hinata?” Oboro’s watery eyes widened at the sight of her energetic friend, who at the moment didn’t look energetic at all.

“Oboro?” Hinata put a hand on her shoulder just in case she thought he wasn’t real. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“You...you idiot. You asked the same question twice,” Oboro sniffled, before nodding. “But I’m fine.”

“Can you walk?” Hinata stood up, putting out a hand to help his friend up.

“I just said that I was fine, Hinata,” Oboro scowled, but still grabbed onto her friend’s offered hand and stood up.

Hinata thought that his friend just needed a bit of time to cool off and was just being stubbornly grumpy at the moment. Before he could walk away to give her some space, she latched onto him, hugging and crying.

“O-Oboro?” Hinata stammered, taken aback from the action. Usually Oboro wore a stoic face, refusing to cry even when things got tough for her. Hinata should’ve figured that even Oboro wasn’t stubborn enough to not cry for her parents. “I thought you said that you’re alright!”

“You knucklehead! Of course I’m not alright,”Oboro bit her bottom lip, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. “Those Nohrian scum...they...they ruined my life.”

“Your life isn’t ruined. No Nohrian can ever do that to you on my watch,” Hinata rubbed her back after a lot of contemplation over the action.

“But, they- they killed my parents...right in front of me,” Oboro glared at the ground. “They took Takumi away from his family and...and from us.”

“It’s going to be okay, Oboro,” Hinata said softly. “You’re not alone. You’ve still got me, okay?”

“And, hey,” Hinata remembered Corrin’s words from earlier. “If you want, we can miss all of them...together.”

“Hinata?” Oboro shot him one of her grins. “You’re the dumbest person I have ever met.”

“I get that a lot,” Hinata smiled, scratching the back of his neck.

“But that’s why I love you,” Oboro said in a quieter voice, causing them both to blush furiously.

“Oboro, I-”

“Hinata! You’ve found a survivor?” A young soldier came running towards them as they broke the embrace.

Hinata nodded his head, a bit disappointed that the moment had ended.

“We must bring her quickly to the castle to heal any injuries,” the soldier explained, hurrying Oboro to ride on one of the awaiting Pegasi with another soldier.

As Hinata hopped back onto his Pegasus, he couldn’t help but wish that Oboro was riding with him instead. The brunette managed to hear the other men talking about how Oboro was the only survivor, making Hinata’s heart ache for those who died and their families.

Nohr was certainly doing a good job scaring Hoshido.

}}}--------------------|}

It was now night. Oboro was invited to stay at the castle for a short period of time, more so politely _forced_ by Corrin. Arrangements had been made for her to live with a few of her relatives who happened to be soldiers for the army.

Hinata had visited Oboro in her guest room a couple of times. Most of those occasions were brief as he was sent to either give her some food or her belongings. However, he remembered holding the shorter girl when she broke down. She tearfully explained what had happened with the Nohrian bandits.

During the ambush, Oboro had fallen down from the front of the wagon. As her parents were threatened she had been lying on the ground, no doubt bruised and in pain, but helpless. She watched, horrified as the thugs took her mother and father’s lives right in front of her.

She recalled how paralyzed in fear she had been. The Nohrian bandits assumed that she was already dead or one of their goons had already killed her, leaving her alone. Oboro laughed bitterly, mentioning how tragic it was for her to be so paralyzed in fear and horror to appear dead in their eyes.

Hinata decided to swing by to check if his friend was alright again. This time, he was finally getting to go on his free will- not that he didn’t want to go on his free will the other times.

The brunette excitedly knocked on the door, most likely louder than he had intended for it to be. As Oboro begrudgingly called for whoever it was to enter, Hinata swung open the door, smiling at the sight of his friend.

“I’m still alive, Hinata,” Oboro grimaced, standing by the window and staring into the night sky. Her dirt covered clothes had been changed and Hinata took note of how stupid he was for realizing that fact now, after all those previous encounters.

“My god, Hinata, do you ever run out of energy?”Oboro groaned, though had a small smile on her face afterwards. “During those nights in the clothing shop as we worked to finish those clothing pieces, you were always the last one to go down.”

In perfect sync the two said, “Takumi was always the first.”

The two laughed at the memory of Takumi giving up on sewing and falling asleep on the couch or counter.

Smiling a bit, Oboro recalled her fondest memories.

“No matter how hard I tried to stay awake with tea and determination, I could never have as much energy as you,” Oboro punched Hinata’s arm lightly (which she may or may not have noticed was made up of a lot more muscle than she remembered). “People weren’t wrong when they said you have as much energy as a hyper puppy. Or even more.”

“Hey, I can’t help it when life is full of excitement!” Hinata beamed, smile fading when he noticed Oboro’s sudden sad expression. “H-hey what’s wrong?”

“It’s about what happened today,” Oboro bit her lip instinctively.

“I know it’s gonna be tough, but I’ll-I’ll be there if you need me,” Hinata said sheepishly. He had no clue whether he was being considerate and comforting at the moment, but hoped that his words reached her and at least made her feel better.

“It’s not just about that, Hinata,” Oboro looked around the room anxiously. “The thing is, I-I lied alright?”

“You lied? Lied about what?” Hinata’s eyes widened. What could she have lied about in this whole situation?

“My parents and I weren’t just transporting clothing items,” Oboro explained. “We had a much more important task.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a Hoshidan fortress that we were heading to,” Oboro bit her lip again. “We were sent by my relatives, you know the soldiers that I will be living with soon. They sent my family and I to retrieve something very important for the king and queen. We swore to protect it.”

“Protect what, Oboro?” Hinata asked, biting his lip as well. What was happening?

“Fujin Yumi,” Oboro breathed. “We were sent to the fortress to bring the Fujin Yumi, the divine weapon to King Sumeragi.”

“Divine...Fujin...King,” Hinata gulped. “You mean you were undercover?”

“Yes, Hinata. C’mon, catch up,” Oboro huffed before returning to her worried state of mind. “We hid it in one of the boxes of clothing that we had brought in the carriage...but then we got attacked and the Nohrian bandits…”

Although most people wouldn’t associate ‘smart’ and ‘Hinata’ together in the same thought or sentence, Hinata strung together the pieces quicker than he himself thought he would’ve.

“They took the Fujin Yumi, Hinata,” Oboro’s voice quivered. “I _lost_ a divine weapon.”

“It’s not your fault, Oboro,” Hinata put his hands onto her shoulders. “It’s not...so don’t blame yourself.”

“We-we shouldn’t have went so close to the border,” Oboro was on the verge of tears again. “Then we wouldn’t have been attacked and...and everything would be fine.”

“The Nohrian scum will probably give it to their king upon discovery,” Oboro growled, a bitter taste left in her mouth after thinking about them. “What if Corrin, Hinoka or Sakura was to be chosen by the Fujin Yumi? And now it’s gone. It’s..it’s gone.”

“Calm down, it’s going to be fine,” Hinata made sure his voice didn’t shake knowing everything he had just said was a lie.

“Nohr…,” Oboro’s voice whispered. “They took my parents, they took the divine weapon and they took Takumi.”

“I won’t let them take anything else that rightfully belongs to Hoshido,” Oboro spat, glaring at the window. “I _can’t_ let them.”

And for the rest of the night Oboro silently wept while Hinata comforted her, fighting the urge to cry himself. They sat by another in silence as they both occasionally stared out the window.

Although their reunion was odd and no doubt filled with tears, Hinata was still thankful that his friend was alright. He had missed her so much and he remembered how terrified he was when Ryoma had explained what had happened.

Hinata was scared of losing her. He was scared that the girl he...he loved would die. His hands almost started to shake again from fear of the thought.

Maybe Corrin was right before. Maybe he should tell her how he felt towards her. Biting his lip for a good few minutes and contemplating whether or not it was a good decision or not, Hinata finally decided to do it.

“Hey, um Oboro?” Hinata scratched the back of his neck nervously as the girl beside him raised an eyebrow curiously. “Look there’s something I’ve wanted to um say for uh...for a while now, so-”

“I love you too, Hinata,” Oboro smiled before hugging the brunette, holding him tightly.

“H-how did you-”

“Corrin’s a crazy one. Making out with our eyes?” Oboro laughed making Hinata smile himself.

Corrin? Then Hinata suddenly remembered seeing Corrin walk out of the room once, having talked with Oboro for a bit. That darn dragon shifter.

“Does she do that to you too?”

“Yeah, everyday!” Hinata sighed, the two pulling away from their embrace but still standing close.

“I don’t want to lose you Hinata,” Oboro explained. “I-I love you too much for that.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” Hinata put his hands on her shoulders. “Why do you think I came flying on a Pegasus to make sure you were alright?”

The two continued to smile happily, having finally said it out loud, feeling complete. It felt nice to finally have admitted it to one another. Keeping it bottled up inside was never a good idea anyway. And by the looks of it the two couldn’t have been happier, smiling until their cheeks started hurting.

Their happy moment was ruined by an all too familiar voice, muffled by the closed door.

“Just kiss already!”

They immediately froze, eyes wide, staring at the door in complete utter horror.

Another voice was heard shortly after, stern and demanding. “Corrin, what are you doing?”

“Wait, wait! Ryoma, don’t take me away!”

The voices got quieter as their owners walked further away from the room. One voice complaining while the other was giving one hell of a lecture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you go! This chapter really strayed far from the explaining what happened during that one year thing I was going for, but hey, at least Oboro and Hinata confessed. (Leo and Takumi should take notes, it's not healthy to bottle it all up inside)
> 
> And no I didn't make a mistake with the previous chapter. It's not like Garon would tell everyone that Nohrian bandits ransacked Hoshidans and stole the divine weapon that was secretly stashed there...so yeah he said Nohrian merchants found it (a completely different story, Garon)...
> 
> So, um I think it was kind of rushed, but I finally got the inspiration to write for this again, so I still hoped that you liked it :)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I made it through one chapter. Another one to go. I had written at least a million (not really) chapters prior to posting (cause I'm scared), but I still have to add things and edit things. I may edit this in the future...so watch out for that. (Boy will it be annoying rereading this chapter just to find like one sentence I wrote)
> 
> I hope you liked the first chapter...but I can't help but be a nervous wreck


End file.
